


Sparks in the Force

by SlippingOnVelcro



Series: The Sequel Trilogy - My Take [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Genre: "Borrowing" from The Force Awakens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But it really goes a whole different way, Commander Ben Solo, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), I don't know what else to put here so I'm gonna stop for now, Jakku, Multi, PG-13 Torture, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Relationships, Witty Ben Solo, i can't stop writing, like really really slow burn, really slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 17:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlippingOnVelcro/pseuds/SlippingOnVelcro
Summary: Thirty years after the battle of Endor, the galaxy is being rebuilt under the watchful eye of the New Republic. Luke Skywalker has been missing for decades. Without him, the possibility of a new generation of Jedi was never realized, and many now see them as legends of old, never to return. While the Republic is gaining more and more control over systems once held by the Empire, the absence of those who were once the guardians of peace and justice has led to a government that is in constant fear of a new conflict.In the far reaches of the Unknown Regions, the First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire, led by a mysterious user of the dark side of the force, and covertly travels from world to world, leaving destruction and death in their wake. Their leader has remained in the shadows, and in their place a dark apprentice and enforcer helps spread fear in the systems not within the immediate reach of the Republic. They are rumored to be constructing a powerful new weapon, which could lead to a new galactic civil war if completed.Desperate to eradicate the new threat to the galaxy in the absence of the Jedi, the Republic has sent a task force to the remote planet of Jakku, in search of a possible clue…





	1. Skirmish on Jakku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here goes nothing...

To most, the name Jakku meant nothing. To some it just meant the middle of nowhere, because it was a tiny planet on a side of the galaxy that was barely charted. Those who knew anything about it always talked of a rock, covered in sand, dotted with villages of scavengers and slavers. Many called it an excellent place to go if you didn’t want to be found. And that was really it.

That is, until on an otherwise unimportant night, a small encampment in the Goazon Badlands found itself in the middle of something no one that lived there ever thought they would see: combat.

The First Order held unspoken claim to this part of the galaxy. Even still, their presence was rarely seen on a planet of such little importance. This made their arrival on a village of seemingly innocent elders and nobodies even more surprising.

And yet, here they were. A detachment of stormtroopers, reminiscent of the old Empire, were quickly overwhelming the small group of guerrilla fighters that had woken up that morning expecting nothing more than an eventful day in the dry heat of the desert. 

The locals were scattered among the huts that encircled the village, no real coordination or communication between them apart from ragged yells as blaster fire slowly picked them off, one after another. The leader of their militia was once enlisted with a private military contractor on Coruscant, and that was found to be far more experience than anyone else in the area could claim. Even still, he hadn’t fired a blaster in years, and as he sprinted between huts, trying to yell orders to the roughly assembled group of guerrilla fighters he commanded, the efforts were already seeming to be in vain.

“Where are those grenades?” he screamed as he slid past a volley of blaster fire and took cover behind a front door adorning one of the homes on the edge of the village.

A teenager, barely old enough to be put in charge of anything, ran around the inside of the weak structure in a panic.

“I don’t know! They’ve never been anywhere else!”

“Find them!”the older leader cried before rolling back into the open, taking careful aim and nailing a stormtrooper across the way in the shoulder with his blaster. He took the chance and shuffled forward to a small embankment of dirt, packed into a separating wall, that now served as cover for a quarter of the men in his militia.

“They just keep coming!” a fighter to his left called out as he came to rest against the wall of dirt, “we haven’t even seen any more ships land!”

“Those transports hold more than you’d think…” he replied quickly.

And with that, he spun back up, into the open, and let off more shots.

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed from the sky, and the guerrilla fighters all turned to see a ship emerge from hyperspace, far above the atmosphere. The leader squinted, and then called over to someone next to him.

“Dak, give me your scope!”

The man named Dak pulled a pair of macrobinoculars from his side and tossed them over. With a few adjustments, they were pointed towards the sky, at the new arrival.

“That’s a Republic cruiser…” the leader said, almost to himself, as he saw the blurred, but still recognizable markings on its lower hull. And at nearly the same time he spotted them, a smaller dot emerges from the ship.

“No way…” he muttered, before lowering the eyepiece and yelling out, to anyone who could hear, “fall back!”

Around him, his meek soldiers retreated towards the any hut that was still intact, blindly returning fire to the enemy still advancing through the village. At the same time, one of the stormtroopers took similar notice of the cruiser above the atmosphere, and his voice came out nearly robotic through the speaker on his helmet.

“Hurry up! The Republic’s on its way!”

 

****

 

Above the planet, a small ship, barely the size of a freighter, bounded towards the atmosphere. Inside, a young pilot at the controls rapidly flicked buttons and toggled switches. He was anxious, but did his best to hide it. He had been in these situations countless times before. Why was he nervous now?

Behind him, around twenty soldiers were hooking on armor, and removing blaster rifles and carbines from racks on the wall of the ship's cabin. These were not makeshift guerrilla warriors, but also far from the cookie cutter clones of the Old Republic. Their combat gear was uniform, and tailored for the unique role of each person. Some heavier and adorned with explosives, some lightweight and only packed with spare tools and basic medical gear. On each of their arms, the logo of the New Republic could be seen, as well as a patch unique to these men, and these men alone. 

They were Special Forces.

One of them broke away from the rest, entering the cockpit as the ship descended into the atmosphere. He watched the surface of the planet get larger through the view port for a moment, before speaking in a low voice to the pilot. 

“Do we know if she’s there?”

The pilot didn’t break his stare ahead.

“…why would she be, lieutenant? We don’t even know what the Order is here for.”

The lieutenant looked at him uneasily.

“And if she is there?”

The pilot didn't sway, still staring ahead as the flashes of blaster fire began to become distinguishable on the ridge they found themselves approaching. As commander of the unit, he needed to consider all possibilities. But he highly doubted such an elusive enforcer of an even more elusive rogue military order would ever visit a barren planet.

Unless she knew something the Republic didn’t, that was...

“If she is, we get in and out as fast as possible, and report to the Counselor”

The lieutenant nodded and re-entered the main body of the ship, and the pilot began to flip switches, the ship humming and slowing. He looked back and spoke to the entire crew.

“Hold on, we’re coming in hot! it looks messy down there!”

The ship began to shudder as it nears the battle, mild explosions and echoing blaster fire now audible even over the whine of the engines.

“Remember, these locals do not answer to the Republic, but they won’t fire on us either!”

He looked back out the view port and mumbled out under his breath.

“... I hope…”

He looked over at the co-pilot, rather the droid serving as co-pilot.

“BB-8, take over, keep them as suppressed as you can and stay low”

The spherical orange droid had multiple arms extended and attached to the ships main board, and beeped out an affirmative. 

The pilot, or rather commander, was already moving back to the main deck, where the rest of his troops were lined up. He slid past a few, grabbing a small blaster from a rack, before the ramp of the began to sway open in front of him.

“Remember, the Order doesn’t come out past the Unknown Regions unless they’ve got a reliable tip, so watch where you’re going and keep your eyes open."

He charged up his rifle, and the rear door of the ship came fully open with a weak shudder.

"We’re not here to mingle! Push them back and get to whatever they’re here for. Quick and easy, in and out.”

He started towards the edge of the ship at a jog, and called out once more before he was drowned out by noise outside the cabin.

“Let’s move!”

And then he leapt from the ramp, falling into the open air of the desert and traveling a few feet down before a miniature thrust pack around his waist deployed, and braced his landing in the sand. The moment he hit the ground, his blaster was raised, and two precision shots knocked down the stormtroopers nearest to him. A few seconds later, his fellow commandos landed in the same fashion, and fell in behind him, taking cover and engaging the foot soldiers of the Order.

As the stormtroopers were pushed back, the commander turned and pushed into a shack, where there are guerrilla forces shooting back in unison with the unexpected squad of reinforcements. 

The leader of the local militia was off near another window, and pushed past a few people before stopping in front of the Republic commander, his eyes staring at him wearily.

“We weren’t expecting this kind of backup”

The commander glanced at the Republic symbol emblazoned on his own arm, and shot an equally weary return glance at the gruff guerrilla.

“Well, let’s hope we can be of equal help to each other.”

He approached the fighter, and his voice was disarmed, but firm nevertheless.

“The First Order is here for something. We don’t know what it is, but I have a feeling you do...”

The militiaman sighed, and looked around, reminding himself of the mess his people are in. He wasn’t overjoyed with what he was about to admit.

“One of our elders, he’s lived here as long as I can remember, might have what you’re looking for.”

“Can you take me to him?”

A hesitation, but the commander isn’t waiting. He approached the guerrilla by another step and raised an eye.

“Either we work together and I get it, or they come in here and kill you for it.” he pointed outside.

In the moment, he realized his raised tone, and took a breath, working his jaw.

“I know your allegiances, we’re not here to plant a flag in your home. But I promise, you do not want whatever it is you have, in their hands.”

The guerrilla took a second to contemplate this, and as he did, a few blaster shots impacted the window near them and broke their conversation with the spattering of dust in both their faces. Without so much as a glance at each other, they both popped out from either side of the window and returned fire, taking down the trooper who had shot at them with pinpoint-matching bolts to the chest. The fighter looked back at the Republic commander, and smirked in the briefest form of soldier-to-soldier admiration.

“I guess we’ve got nothing else to lose. Come on”

And with that, he moved towards the other end of the shack, the commander following behind. They shuffled between buildings punctuated with other guerrilla fighters, still shooting back at at the stormtroopers, while the men of the Special Forces spread further through the center of the village, carefully whittling down the first order foot soldiers. As they entered a larger, more built-up structure, the guerrilla leader looked over at the commander, mid-pace.

“I think I recognize you. You’re him, aren’t you? Her son?”

The commander slowed only barely, and shot him a glance, and then focused back in the direction they were going.

“I don’t have the force, sorry.”

The smallest of smiles popped onto the corner of the mouth of his, at least temporary, ally.

“That didn’t answer my question...”

Ben looks back at him.

“No, but it answered the one that would have come right after it”

They descended to the lower level of the large structure. There are multiple fighters not active in the combat, but protecting a group of much older villagers. These were the type who clearly couldn’t fight for themselves. When the guerrilla leader entered, the others stirred a bit, and then much more so as the man adorned in a Republic uniform followed him in. The fighter raised a hand.

“He’s fine.”

They approached the elders of the group, and the freedom fighter called out.

“Lor-San, they’re here for it”

As the elders looked to him, the Republic commander looked at him as well, a curious look on his face.

“Wait, Lor-San… you don’t mean…”

Before he could finish, a much older voice perked up from behind a quite aged couple.

“And who is ‘they’?”

A tall, thinner man, wearing ragged robes, poked out of the group. The moment his eyes met the commanders, they both smiled. 

“Lor San Tekka!” the commander reveled, meeting him in stride and wrapping his arms around the elder, who in turn chuckled and did the same to him.

“Little Ben Solo! Not so little any more, it seems…”

Ben shook his head and pulled back from the elder.

“Not any more is right, how long has it been?”

“Since you were a little boy, I’d imagine.”

When he heard this, Ben’s face softened a bit, almost as if he was going back to the days when he was, in fact, a little boy, playing in the fancy penthouse his parents had lived in. Tekka was one of their earliest allies in the fledgling New Republic. But he had retired from civil service before Ben was even a teenager. The elder’s next words brought Ben out of his nostalgic trance.

“Say hello to your mother for me, when you see her next.”

Ben tried to compose himself a bit, as a small explosion from outside jolted him back into the reality of where he was and what was happening.

“I think she’d love that a lot more if it came from you directly,” he started, “we’re here to assist you against the First Order, and intercept what they came for, but that doesn’t mean we have to leave you here.”

Lor-San took the time to think on those words, and as the battle continued above them, Ben became a little more anxious.

“I did come to this place for a reason, to escape the turmoil that the galaxy seems to have found itself revolved around once again.”

And then, he pulled a small item out of his pocket, waiting a moment before revealing it to be a holo-drive. The next generation of holo-disk, the small device could hold much more data at a quarter the size and weight. It was far more modern than anything else that existed on possibly the entire planet. Before Ben can even comprehend this, Lor San spoke again.

“It was my hope that my holding onto this would not draw attention, but I suppose even I cannot change the will of the force.”

When the force was brought into the conversation, Ben cocked his head at the old man, as if he was speaking of something no one believed in any more.

“For the longest time, I didn’t really understand the Jedi. Luke gave us hope, much like his sister before him.”

The mention of his uncle caused Ben to gulp. He hadn't thought about Luke in years, and hadn't heard his name in even longer. He had practically forgotten about the man's existence since he was a boy, the rest of his life overshadowing long lost tales of the famous Jedi that was going to bring back peace in the galaxy. 

“...now the galaxy needs that hope again, and maybe this can help you find it.”

Lor San Tekka handed Ben the drive, who looked back at him with a slowly raised eyebrow. 

“Luke... he’s still alive?”

The response is instantaneous.

“I don’t know. But if he is, that will lead you right to him”

Ben gave the old man another confused glance, then looked at the drive. He started to think. 

The idea that his uncle was even still alive, let alone hiding out somewhere in the galaxy, requiring a map to find him… that was...

Before he could process anything else, a distorted hum echoed from above them. It wasn’t a battle sound, it was another ship coming in. Everyone in the small room looked up, then at each other. This time Ben was the first to speak.

“That’s not a normal command ship.”

Tekka responded grimly.

“Something much darker has discovered us”

Ben was already scrambling in his head to figure out a plan. He hadn’t expected this. It couldn’t be her. Why didn't he plan for this? Did she know about the drive? 

And then a different kind of fear crept up his spine. If this truly was her, than he and his men would be history by the time their command cruiser could send in more backup. And by then, she and the drive could be long gone. 

Ben and the guerrilla fighters looked at each other tepidly, it seemed they all were coming to the same conclusions. Then Lor San reached out and took his arm.

“You need to leave, I’m afraid our time has run out.”

Ben looked at him immediately in protest.

“We’re not abandoning you.”

“You must, otherwise your mission here will have been in vain.” He looked off, in an almost prophetic way, “our fate has already been sealed, it’s up to you now to make things right.”

Before Ben could resist further, the guerrilla leader came up and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s not been wrong in a long time, I appreciate your assistance, but I don't think any of us are equipped to handle a sith lord. It's time we left,” he looked around the room, “all of us.”

Ben looked up at him, waited one more second before turning back to the old man he had thought for the longest time was lost to some distant asteroid. 

“The counselor, and the Republic, will remember you for this.”

Lor San chuckled and let out a sigh.

“Counselor? To me, she’s royalty…”

Ben barely give a weak smile, before turning and heading out of the room, the guerrilla’s already behind him, mobilizing on their own. He reached up and spoke into his earpiece.

“We have what we came for. Fall back, get to the ship.”

Outside, a few members of the task force relayed his order, and the stormtroopers began to coagulate and gather near the landing site of this new, menacing black craft. 

After a moment, Ben emerged from the hut, hiding around a corner before focusing on the ship as it landed. Around him, guerrilla fighters were now beginning to flee the village entirely, taking as many of the innocent elders and children with them as they could, forgetting the battle and their homes as it was clear this new arrival was not to be taken lightly. Ben darted through an opening and ducked behind a window, and speaking calmly into his comm.

“It’s her. Do not engage, our priority is getting off-world. Package is a small holo-drive, I’m bringing it to the ship.”

Voices buzzed through his earpiece, and he peeked up as the craft is settled, and the ramp opening with a hiss and plumes of hydraulic smoke.

A black cloaked figure emerged, flanked by two upper-echelon stormtroopers. This was no average military officer or diplomat, rather a dark and grotesque embodiment of the force, smashed into jet black robes with accenting polymer plating and little swaths of dark red leather, with a sleek helmet atop the head, immediately reminiscent of Darth Vader, but clearly designed more for the aesthetic factor than medical functionality. This sith lord however, gave off a much different vibe. The shape of the chest plates, slimmer nature of the arms underneath the long gloves, and the small skirting feature at the waist gave off a more feminine vibe, beyond the dark iconoclastic nature of the outfit. And shimmering on the belt, a matte black and silver accented lightsaber, slightly curved, with cross guard ports on either side of the top end. 

This was the First Order’s most notorious enforcer, and one of the only known force-users in the galaxy at that. The rumors that surrounded her were vast, inconsistent, and often legendary. But legends heralding the dark side were not the kind that Ben wanted to find himself running across.

She looked around the torn-up village. Special Forces operatives were falling back, and any traded blaster fire is mostly blind shooting at this point. Some of it impacted around her, and she raised a hand, freezing multiple blaster bolts in mid-air, one after the other. 

Ben had just about had enough of sizing her up from a distance, and began darting behind huts as he moved closer and closer to his exit, which was thankfully still hovering right where he left it. BB-8 was evading enemy fire well enough, but it couldn’t last forever. Ben heard his operatives yelling in astonishment and fear, and turned to see the suspended blaster fire around the dark warrior, now frustratingly yelling himself into his comm.

“I said fall back! Do not engage her!”

Before he can even finish speaking, a piercing, distorted whine crashed through his ears and into his head, and he stumbles considerably before slowing to a strained jog. This wasn’t over his comms, it was as if there was a speaker in his brain stem, yelling at him. 

Just after this, a similarly deafening set of explosions went off near him, and he looked up to see the previously frozen blaster fire cascading back towards his men, impacting the homes around them and even the ship, which lurched and swayed in reaction. 

The interference in his head in unbearable, the ground in front of him blurring, making it harder and harder to tell where he needs to go to reach the edge of his ship. 

Then he heard her voice. It bounced through the white noise in his head, as if she was mixing in her thoughts with his own, but she was louder. He was getting an amplified version of what she was saying, still halfway across the village from him. Her voice was garbled through an electronic synthesizer, but even still he could pick out a lighter, female tone.

“Disable their ship, kill them all, leave the leader to me”

He didn’t quite care if she had seen him, though at this point he was sure she had, but he needed to prioritize his cargo.

“BB-8…” 

His voice came out as a sputter, and he groaned in resistance to the distortion fogging his mind. 

“...start the hyperdrive, set course for Hosnian Prime!”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the drive. As soon as it was out in the open, he felt another wave of the mental interference, and this time he felt some kind of emotional spike, as if he had been made to involuntarily feel elated, and vindicated. He didn’t want to feel this, what the hell was going on?

As he slowed down and reared up to jump to the ramp of the ship, his lieutenant knelt down on the edge, and reached out with his hand.

“Take this!” he yelled, tossing the holo-drive to him instead of his own hand.

And just as the drive left his grip, his entire body felt weak, and then he realized he wasn’t moving. He couldn’t move. Anything.

He did the best he could, wiggling his fingers and shifting his eyes as far as he could. He had been frozen, mid-jump, a few inches off the ground. He tried to move his lips, and just getting out a few words felt as if he was fighting a bolted-shut mouth.

“Get... out... of here... BB-8… now!”

He could see his men yelling at him from the ramp of the ship, but it was already closing. His droid followed his orders without hesitation. As the ship pulled away, he saw sparks fly from the wings and engines, and it didn’t speed up. The hull groaned to a resistant force, and he heard her voice again, although this time it was more of a frustrated, electronic growl. She was trying to stop his ship too.

He let out a harrowing groan before barely gritting out, “Hyperdrive!”

And in an instant, the sub-light engines lit up, and the ship gave a final pained whine of metal before the craft shot into oblivion, disappearing from sight. 

The extreme, dull roar that was in his head subsided a bit, and he heard her panting for air through the helmet. He still can’t move, but at least he doesn’t want to claw his skull open any more. 

Then he felt his body lower, and the edges of his feet impacted the sand only barely. And it was now that she walked around to face him. He had only seen glimpses of her mask in spy photos, to be this close and see every little detail and imperfection was… odd.

The face plate had scratches, tiny ones, but otherwise gave off no emotion. He remembered his grandfathers helmet, holding its charred remains in the museum back home. It had always had an angry expression built-in. Despite this, the mystery buried in the lack of emotion actually made this mask intimidating in a different kind of way.

For a moment, she just stared silently at him. Her head barely tilted to the side, and then she turned, and he simply glanced up, to see his capital cruiser still above the atmosphere, no doubt scrambling for a rescue team at the moment. He looked back at her with a combination of fear, curiosity, and the struggle of trying to break free of the force hold. Then he figured he’d break the ice.

“You’re taller than I thought you’d be…”

“You just took something of great interest to the First Order.” her voice isn’t threatening, yet, simply stating the facts of the situation, “while my men find the people who gave it to you, I want to know what it was.”

If it hadn’t already been made clear by his opening line, the pilot was quick to snap something witty, despite the predicament he’d found himself in.

“Oh, you know, just some old smugglers currency… kind of rare… pretty neat… officer’s pension isn’t what it used to be-“

The hand that was holding him in place arced backward, and then twisted. The distorting sound in his head is replaced by a heavy, dull feeling. Like something is pushing into him from all sides.

“Lying to me is useless, one way or another, I will find out what I want to know…” 

The pilot grimaced, now feeling as if multiple tiny drills were just beginning to pierce his skin.

“Your only hope is to spare your mind and body the anguish, and tell me now, otherwise…”

Her hand twisted further, and the experience in his head is dialed up to the point to the point that he can do nothing but groan.

“...you’ll be begging me for death”

In one motion, she dropped her hand entirely, and all at once his mind is freed, and his body dropped. He can barely put his hands out before roughly impacting the ground, letting out a huff and partially slumping over. A few breaths, and then he spit blood out, glaring up at her.

“Where I come from, hope stands for a little bit more than that....” 

This time he heard a… was that a snicker? She was laughing at him.

“I suppose we’ll take that from you first, then…”

A few stormtroopers approached them, and he could barely suppress a laugh himself as he took note of them.

“Is that really the best you’ve go-” 

He was cut off by the butt of a rifle being slammed into his stomach, and the troopers yanked him up and placed his hands in restraints, before hauling him back towards her ship. As he was pulled away from her, one of her elite guards approached.

“Ma’am, we found him, the elder.”

Her response didn’t bounce around his head like before, he only heard it fade as he got farther away.

“Let me see him, and advise my ship to prepare for our new guest. I’d prefer we leave before another Republic transport gets here.”

Hearing them mention Lor San Tekka immediately made Ben struggle at his restraints, before one of his two "chaperones" hit him in the back of the head with the butt of their blaster, and everything went black.

 

****

 

He was too old for this. Being dragged from his home like a ragged animal by men imitating the old ways of the Empire. Lor San Tekka didn’t fight however, he simply allowed himself to be pushed into the open air, surveying the damage No building had gone untouched. Many, already old and dilapidated, had partially or fully collapsed in the conflict they had just endured. Fires raged in some corners, and the bodies… 

The bodies burned into his soul. 

He knew who he was being led to, and as she came into view, he put on a perfectly stoic face. 

Resilience. He wouldn’t be intimidated by her. 

A few feet away, and he was released, left to rub his bruised wrists, and stare at her, expectantly. It was a moment before she spoke.

“Look how old you’ve become…”

Un-phased, he responded valiantly.

“Something far worse has happened to you…”

She ignored this.

“You know what I’ve come for.”

“I know where you come from, before you called yourself Isaera Revan…”

She hesitated, and glanced back as the whine of new ships started to emit in the distance. Republic reinforcements. 

“It’s a shame you’ve decided to place trust in the Republic, instead of with me…”

“They have done nothing to poison my trust. You, on the other hand, consumed by the dark side….”

This seemed to set her off, and she cut him short, “I’ll show you the dark side!”

He still wasn’t afraid, “You may try. But you cannot deny the truth that is your destiny….”

Another moment of silence, and then she spoke plainly.

“.... you’re so right.”

And in an instant, a red glow burst from her side, and she raised her lightsaber above her head, striking down the defenseless elder easily. She almost seemed to bask in this for a moment, before turning to survey the village, or what was left of it.

“We’re done here. Notify Hux that we are to jump to hyperspace the moment I return," with that, her lightsaber disengaged, and she turned back towards her ship, clipping the weapon at her side. 

She had not expected this much of a complication. But it could be worse, she surmised. Even if she didn’t have what the old man had been keeping safe, she could at least find out what it was, from her new prisoner. 

And for now, that suited her just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of a massive story that I'm still working on completing. 
> 
> It is essentially a complete alternative to the current sequel trilogy of films. 
> 
> This first part, meant to mimic The Force Awakens, will be 20-25 chapters long. I also have rough treatments for a second and third part, in the spirit of a full trilogy.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated, and as this is my first submission to the site, please go a little easy on me while I learn the ropes of writing in this format. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	2. Contacting the Counselor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their commander missing, and a mysterious holodrive left in their possession, the Republic task force is left to reach out to Counselor Organa, and relay the news she had hoped to never hear.

“Sir, the Raddus is attempting to contact us!”

Multiple arguments had broken out inside the Special Forces transport since it shot into hyperspace and left their commander in the hands of the First Order. They were all quieted by the communications officer calling out from his station.

“They say that Revan’s ship went into hyperspace not long after we did, towards the unknown regions!”

Between two grumbling rifleman, the lieutenant that had just been made the unofficial acting commander of the unit, stepped forward. He had the holodrive in his hand, and unlike everyone else, had been silent since they left Jakku, staring at the little device while sitting in the pilot’s chair. Everyone else looked to him, the expression on their faces all unison.

What now?

He turned and flipped the drive through his fingers one more time, catching it in his palm as he leaned over towards BB-8, still at the helm of the ship.

“Take us out of hyperspace, we need to open comms.”

The droid let out a questioning whine and hesitated.

“I know what he said, but this can't wait!”

The poor sphere of a machine bowed his head, and let out a more somber chirp, before the ship lurched and the passing stars in the view port blurred.  
They exited hyperspace in the middle of nowhere, a sun of some kind was visible somewhat nearby, not nothing else.

One of the crew approached the lieutenant, who only greeted him by name.

“What is it, Farris?”

“Sir, shouldn’t we get back to Prime?”

“Not yet” he lifted the holodrive in his hand, staring at it, “whatever this is, Ben put it above his own well-being, so we need to consult the Counselor on what to do with it.”

Farris was quiet for a moment, before slowly working out his next question.

“How are we going to tell her?”

The lieutenant looked over at him, almost as if he wanted him to answer his own question.

“That her son was captured by the Order?”

“Well, yeah... this hasn’t happened before. Usually whenever we show up the Order turns and runs.”

“This wasn’t a normal operation for them,”

There was another flash of silence between them, before the subordinate spoke up again.

“Isaera Revan has also rarely seen outside the uncharted regions.” Farris added, “so whatever this is, it probably goes beyond us.”

The acting commander glanced at him, and then flipped the small little device one more time into his palm.

“All right, open up comms. Loop in the Raddus, too”

 

***

 

In the time of the Empire, Hosnian Prime served as an administration center, second to Coruscant. It was here that the galactic concordance was signed, bringing an end to the galactic civil war, and in the years that followed the New Republic converted the old Imperial cities into a modern home for the senate, and board of counselors. Most of everyone who lived there worked for the government in some capacity.

The senate was made up of representatives from each system the Republic assimilated, and the federal government itself was run by a board of counselors instead of a single head of state. This had been unanimously agreed to as perfectly appropriate in the wake of Emperor Palpatine. Each counselor not only headed a specific branch of the federal administration, but also served as a regional governor, overseeing local regulations and legislation of the systems within their territory.

Some had complained that they were adopting too much from the Empire, but it was also argued that despite the methods of enforcement they used, the actual power structure instituted by the Emperor was not without some merit. Many had brought up that the structure of the Old Republic had been part of what led to its downfall in the first place.

The New Republic was seen as an experiment of sorts, combining different aspects of past rule and governance. This was emphasized in their attempt to reign in control of the galaxy they inherited. The Jedi, once the guardians of peace and justice alongside formal democracy, had become something of legend, with the disappearance of their last known practitioner Luke Skywalker. In his stead, it was his sister, Leia Organa, who had helped re-organize the remnants of the Rebellion into a formal Army and Navy.

It was for this reason that she remained the longest-serving counselor in the governments young history, overseeing military operations and expansion, as well as the governance of The Inner Rim. To her, Hosnian Prime was her home, more so than anywhere else she had been since… well, Alderaan. She had settled down, married, and had her son here.

And now, as she stood near a window in her office, overlooking the rest of the capital city, she felt a mild tremor in the force. She reached out and held onto the frame of the window, shutting her eyes and recoiling from the tension that tied up her gut. This wasn’t the first time either. She had been feeling mild, occasional ripples of tension in her soul for the last few hours.

She hadn’t felt this kind of disturbance in the force in years. Something was wrong.

Dwelling on it further was out of the question however, as the door to her office opened, and one particular tried and true protocol droid stepped in.

“Excuse me, Counselor Organa… the task force is making contact.”

Leia turned, and gave C-3PO an inquisitive look as she circled her desk.

“Is it Ben?”

Threepio faltered

“Oh, well I do believe it was Lieutenant Dameron who reached out to us, ma’am”

Her eyes went wide, and she hurried her pace, past the droid and out the door.

Down the hallway was her main public chambers, a command center of sorts, with hololink stations and databanks galore. Some claimed she could run an entire war from here, though she wasn’t anxious to test that theory. As she entered, a group of aides manning the terminals focused up, one of them immediately speaking.

“Oh, ma’am we-”

“Put him on.” Leia quickly ordered.

The aide only nodded and spun around, flipping a switch. In front of them, the main table lit up, and a blue-tinted live image of the task force’s co-commander filled the space above it. Despite being the one to make contact, he seemed unable to start the dialogue, simply staring expectantly at her, before the basest of greetings escaped his lips.

“Counselor Organa.”

She looked back at him, even more worried by the hesitancy in his demeanor. This wasn’t like him at all.

“Lieutenant, where is Ben?”

He waited a moment, and nervously scratched the back of his neck. Her brow furrowed

“Poe…”

“He was taken by the First Order.”

Her face fell, and she lowered her head. And after a few seconds, she realized that she didn’t quite know how to respond.

She had always been afraid of this. But as the years went on, and he bounded through the ranks of the Republic navy, it had almost become some kind of impossible nightmare that she had slowly convinced herself would never happen.

“Ben doesn’t get taken. Was it that little witch of a sith lord?”

“Yes ma’am, Isaera Revan was there, looking for the same thing we were. The commander found it, and just barely got it to me before she captured him.”

She had lowered her head again at the confirmation that the one person in the galaxy she feared her son running into, had in fact been who he’d run into. But the word “it” caught her attention, and she looked back up at Poe in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“We have it here.” he lifted the small device in his hand for her to see, “Some type of holo-drive, guarantee its newer than any tech you’d find in those systems.”

She barely needed to think before giving her order.

“Upload it and send us the contents immediately”

Lieutenant Dameron turned his head and tossed the drive out of the frame of his projected image, nodding to someone out of sight, before putting his eyes back on her.

“What about the Commander, ma’am?”

He was only verbalizing the conundrum already rolling around in her head. Just as she started to formulate questions, the aide controlling the console across the room called out.

“Excuse me counselor, the Raddus is reaching out.”

Leia glanced over, and back at Poe, and nodded.

“Patch them in.”

The image of Lieutenant Dameron was shrunk, and pushed to one side of the table as another phased into view. The commander of the flagship RADDUS was a familiar face to Leia.

“Admiral Ackbar.” she greeted shortly, not in the mood for pleasantries.

“Counselor,” he replied just as quickly, “we were able to track the First Order transport that left Jakku, up to the edge of the Mid Rim…”

“Do we have any guesses as to where they’re going?”

Poe spoke up first.

“Reports from the last few months show a few possible routes into the uncharted territories that they could be using regularly… ” he hesitates, “ma’am, we’ve been at this search for years…”

Leia snapped, “I’m aware of that, Lieutenant.”

There was a moment of silence, and then she shook her head, a few fingers pressed into the bridge of her nose.

“I’m sorry Poe, I just…”

“I know...” he replied grimly.

Admiral Ackbar took the chance to jump in.

“If I may counselor, our scouts isolated a few possible systems that the Order could be using as refueling stations for their capital ships.”

“Star destroyers,” Poe drawled, “they just have to copy every last little thing the Empire-”  
Leia cut him off again, but this time it was more mild impatience than impulsive anger.

“Yes Poe, we’re aware…”

He stayed quiet after that, and both he and Ackbar waited for her to speak again. When she did, it was aimed at both of them.

“Those tiny transport ships aren’t built for a man-hunt, especially in First Order territory…” she looked to Poe, “Lieutenant, get back to the Raddus, I’m not losing my whole team to some hellish maelstrom or surprise attack”

Poe nodded, and then she turned to Ackbar.

“Admiral, begin cross referencing your recent reports with the old star charts we found in the Imperial base on Endor. I know we’ve done this before, but…”

“I understand,” he replied when she couldn’t quite find a way to end her sentence. She shook her head, and this time didn’t really speak to anyone in particular.

“With how long Ben’s been an officer, I started to forget that… he was just as vulnerable as anyone else.”

More silence.

“He’s the toughest I’ve ever served with,” Poe chimed in, “I doubt anyone in the Order is having pleasant time with him right now.”

“It’s not the Order I’m worried about...” she replied distantly, now looking off at a blank wall across the room.

The silence, punctuated by the hum of the ship in the background of Poe’s transmission, felt like eons, as she thought of what to do.

This couldn’t be happening. She wasn’t ready. She should have been ready.

This was her family.

She took a long breath, and pursed her lips before turning back to the transmission.

“Start narrowing down your leads, gentlemen. I’ll try to start something from our end, but our resources are already so stretched across the borders of the charted systems, I… I can’t guarantee much…”

Neither the lieutenant or the admiral spoke for a moment. Then, in his usual tone of affirmativeness, Poe declared, “We’ll start digging. The drive’s contents are on their way now.”

“Thank you...”

Admiral Ackbar’s transmission ended first, and Poe and Leia exchanged equally neutral, unsure expressions, before his feed was cut as well. Leia reached out and leaned into the table, feeling very off balance as the weight of the news she had just heard bounced around her like an energetic sprite. The trademark mechanical whirring of threepios joints echoed as he approached her.

“Ma’am, should I notify Captain Solo?”

Han.

What would Han say?

He had never been encouraged by Ben’s commissioning into the navy, always trying to get him to come off and help him on something unrelated to the rapidly intensifying cold war the Republic was becoming embroiled in.

“No threepio, I will. Call a session of the Counselors, it may be a long shot, but I’ve got no other option. My son is missing, and each minute that goes by... who knows what’s happening to him.”

The timid protocol droid gave a nod and an “Dear, oh dear” as he walked out of the room, passing by another of Leia’s aides, who was holding cup of hot tea. Despite the situation, the taste of imported Mandalorian tea leaves brought the smallest of smiles out of her. The aide stood by her as she took the cup and swirled a bit, before taking a sip.

“Thank you Kay.”

The young woman didn’t respond for a moment, instead staring at the ground as if she couldn’t think of what to say. When she did, her voice was softer than Leia was used to.

“Ma’am, I couldn’t help but overhear… if I may… you once told me of the force within your family”

Leia looked over at her, before she hesitantly proceeded.

“If he has it, perhaps Commander Solo is more resilient than the other officers she’s interrogated.”

Leia lowered her head a bit, getting lost in the mild steam coming off the rim of the cup, and shook her head once.

“Ben stopped believing in that stuff a long time ago. If the force is with him, I doubt he’d call to it anytime soon. Especially around someone like her”

She turned and walked over to the only window in the room, a smaller slit that didn’t provide nearly the same kind of exquisite view as her office down the hall. Kay watched her from the edge of the table, and Leia put a hand to her brow before calling back to her.

“Let me know when we’ve received all the data from the task force”

Kay nodded, and without a word left the room.

Counselor Organa gazed at the setting sun through the window, the golden light cascading down the massive cityscape that surrounded her.

After all these years, she still wasn’t fully acclimated to the time zones of this damned planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is shorter than the last, but I promise the next one will make it up in spades!
> 
> Happy reading!


	3. Proper Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo becomes a prisoner of the First Order, and receives the VIP treatment from his evil, twisted captor. Well, as much VIP treatment as someone like her can bear, given her predilection towards torture and punishment. 
> 
> There's about to be an awakening...

The First Order had an interesting predilection toward copying the old Imperial Navy. Their standard Star Destroyer, for example, was what one might call a modern re-imagining of the triangular flagship seen during the galactic civil war. The underlying elements were all there, but countless exterior upgrades and plenty of unseen modifications adorned the menacing craft.

The Cataclysm, personal Star Destroyer of the Order’s chief enforcer Isaera Revan, had a few special modifications. Intended primarily as command ship, it was built to accommodate higher ranking officers, and far less stormtroopers than others in its class. Given her propensity to spend quite a bit of time aboard, the imposing commander’s personal quarters were larger than that of any other capital ship. Her personal light fighter was stored in a modified hanger, along with a small squadron designated as her elite guard. And finally, the prison block had been expanded, to allow for the extended stay of any political prisoners or hostages the sith lord felt it necessary to host.

Ben Solo hadn’t seen much of this as he was transported into the belly of the ship, waking up from his bout of unconsciousness halfway down the corridor to his designated cell/personal torture chamber. He was a little disappointed to not get to see the inner workings of a real First Order ship, but this faded as he focused more on the dilemma at hand, being strapped to the most uncomfortable slab of metal he could imagine.

Elevated at an angle, the “chair” had multiple securing straps at his ankles, waist, neck, and a few places on the arms. All around his head, tiny pin pricks and beeping mechanics made the skin on his cheeks and forehead twitch each time they went off, as if personally designed to be nothing but painfully annoying.

Hell, that was probably the entire idea.

He didn’t really keep up with how long it took for him to start nodding off. Maybe it was exhaustion, or boredom, or just his mind begging him to pretend that this was all a twisted nightmare. Just as his eyes began to slide to a close, the entry door across the chamber hissed and snapped open, jarring him back to full attention.

And there she was, standing in the doorway. It wasn’t as easy to pick out the defining features of her armored robes in the low light of the room, but as she stepped in and took a few steps toward him, it all started to come back. She was definitely unique. Before he could think of something snappy to say, she broke the ice.

“If I had known our captive was a Republic celebrity, I’d have arranged for a better room.”

Her voice was deadpan, almost casually calm, which kind of freaked him out. She spoke again after taking another step in his direction.

“Comfortable?”

He damn well knew what to say to that.

“Not really…”

“I must say… I am impressed with your resolve. Putting the mission before yourself like that.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, well we all make dumb decisions on the fly, sometimes….”

She took another step forward.

“I’ve heard many stories about the son of Leia Organa…”

Another step closer, and this time her hand raised from her side. He knew what was coming this time, and took a deep breath before staring her down.

“So that’s it, huh? Ten seconds of small talk and we’re back to this…”

Her head tilted to one side, as if she was studying him.

“You’re not the only one with a mission, commander.”

When the familiar sensation of his mind clouding up began, and the low hum of her power began to thrum in his ears, he bared his teeth, bracing for the pain. She started talking very plainly, instead of accusatory.

“The old man gave you something small, a holodrive maybe?”

“I told you, it was some ancient mining currency-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, the dull thrum increasing to a whine that pierced his ears and deafened him, causing him to groan. When she spoke next, he heard her voice in his head, his ears too drowned out to be of any use.

“Stop lying to me!”

Her anger was further apparent as she dialed up her barrage on his mind, and the drilling feeling from her attack on Jakku came back, but ten times as powerful. It felt as if claws were cutting his skull open and pulling it apart, like ribbons of paper.

All he could do was scream back.

“Get out of my head!”

Her hand began to twist, and at the same time his brain felt like it was being turned on its axis, a dizzying effect now compounded the pain that he felt. Then he felt a hum. Unlike everything else, it wasn’t unpleasant, and it seemed to rise from a corner of his mind out of nowhere.

Whatever it was, it felt better than anything she was doing, and almost unconsciously he focused on it. It was growing from within, and came to meet the pain his captor was slewing onto him from the outside. And then, in the midst of this, hhe noticed something about her.

Her hand was twitching. No, it was shaking. And in his head, he could hear her breathing. Not distorted, electronic breathing. Real breathing. She didn’t sound very calm.

Something was wearing her out.

He wasn’t sure what he was doing, or if he was even doing anything himself. It seemed as if he wasn’t pulling the strings here. But to his relief, it also seemed that she wasn’t either.

Her head cocked to the side.

“What are you…”

A ragged scream burst through his mouth before he could stop it, and cut her off short. In an instant, the hum in his head exploded, and everything was flushed out, leaving his mind silent, pain replaced with a tingling sensation. As if he had lost feeling inside his own head, and was now regaining it. On the outside, some invisible wave of energy pushed her back, and her hand flew up as if a ghost had slapped it away. His head tilted back on its own, and his eyes fluttered as he felt a sudden sense of drowsiness.

What the hell had just happened? He didn’t even know what that was. Was he doing it? How did he do that? Was it really HIM that did it?

Then a thought crept into the back of his mind. It was a familiar thought, but something he hadn’t considered in a long time. He noticed the dark witch across from him trying to compose herself a bit, and forced himself to keep this new thought as suppressed as possible, but a low chuckle through her mask told him it was too late.

“It’s true then, isn’t it… you’re strong with the force...”

He shook his head, and his voice was already sounding hoarse.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

He heard her knuckles crack, and glanced down to see her fingers flexing into a fist and back open again.

“Come now, no use in hiding it from me. I haven’t met anyone else in my life that could come close to keeping me out like that.”

He didn’t respond. She stepped up to the slab, approaching him like he was some lab experiment, her mask turning up and down as she appeared to be… analyzing him.

“Unless that was an accident…”

Without backing up, she raised her hand, and hovered in near his temple. In an instant, all of her mental attacks came back at the same time, and it became clear to him that anything she had done before was not nearly her full potential. She wasn’t holding back now, however.

His head slammed into the back of the chair and he let out yell that could shatter stars. His body began to shake as it seemed she had snaked hands into his ears, and was now trying to pull his brain out from either side of him. The sensation he had felt before that blocked her out didn’t return this time. And she took full advantage.

“What are you hiding, Solo?”

He couldn’t think clearly enough to formulate a response, let alone send the signals to his vocal cords to actually speak it. She drawled out a follow-up, a little purr in her voice.

“Where’s all that power now?”

In what felt like a tidal wave, he felt his mind open up wide, and things he didn’t even know were buried within him came out in full force. He saw quick flashes of events unfolding, things he had never been a part of, some he had never even seen or heard about. He was in a grand office, of sorts. The city outside reminded him of Hosnian Prime, but different. Before he could think about it, there were flashes, lightsabers clashing, of all different colors. A figure laid in the corner of a wide window shot bolts of lightning across a room, and then someone with a blue blade attacked another in unison, before kneeling in front of this disfigured gremlin of a figure.

_Just help me save her life..._

In another instant he was somewhere else, in what seemed like a completely different place. He recognized his fabled grandfather, Darth Vader, in the armor that had been written into legend, choking a man to death aboard some type of ship. Then he saw his uncle, much younger than he had ever been while Ben was alive, fighting Vader on some walkway in a massive chamber, the former clearly outmatched. He remember his uncle telling him about this duel when he was very young.

_Don’t make me destroy you!_

And finally, everything blurred, and the elder voice of Luke Skywalker boomed out amidst the indistinguishable haze.

_It’s time for the Jedi… to end._

The vivid sequence exploded into oblivion as quickly as it manifested, and Ben collapsed in place on the chair, heaving and sweating up a storm. His captor was a little worse for wear too, it seemed. With the white noise in his head gone, he could hear panting through the voice synthesizer on her helmet. She must have seen exactly what he did.

“Your family haunts you...” she muttered, and then cocked her head at him, “and you don’t even know it…”

He tried to reply, instead having to spit a wad of blood onto the floor, then tossed his head to one side, to get strands of hair out of his way.

Then, something in her demeanor changed. Her head shifted on her shoulders, and she walked up to him, now coming uncomfortably close. The darkness of her helmet was all he could see.

“Or… you know it… but refuse to look...”

In anger he lashed out, swinging his head forward and hitting the front end of her helmet. He didn’t even feel the pain on his forehead at first, caught up in the satisfaction of watching her stumble back. With bile in his voice, he muttered out to her.

“You need to learn some manners, sweetheart...”

The mask made her expression impossible to see, but from the growl that emitted out of her helmet, he imagined she wasn’t too pleased with this comment. She stomped toward him, and he winced for whatever her retaliation would be, shutting his eyes.

But then he heard her stop. He was almost afraid to open his eyes and see what she was doing in lieu of punching him, or forcing herself into his mind at full thrust again, or maybe even using her lightsaber to cleave off his limbs. After a second, he felt the heat of her breath, processed by the mouthpiece of the mask, splash over his face. When she spoke, he could pick out an annoying sweetness in her voice even through the electronic processing.

“And you need to learn your place...” she turned, and he immediately felt the sensation of her closeness dissipate, as her footsteps thudded towards the other end of the room

When he opened his eyes, she had stopped at the door and turned once more to give him a final once over.

“You’re living up to everything I’ve been told about you, and more...” he swore he heard a chuckle through that mask of hers, “see you again soon, Commander...”

 

****

 

He didn’t enjoy her command ship. There were many reasons why. On no other vessel did he feel so unnoticed, so unimportant as he did here. The lower officers and crew didn’t look at him in fear and dreaded anticipation the way they did when she passed. The bridge didn’t become noticeably quiet when he entered the way it did for her.

Granted, General Armitage Hux never found himself anyplace but on the bridge of her ship whenever he passed through for a visit. But that still meant he had to endure the quieting of the entire room whenever she came stomping in.

At least he could tell she was coming. Though she also seemed to snuff out any form of happiness or joy within his soul the moment she entered his immediate radius. Maybe she was just teasing him with that force nonsense. He turned him his longful gaze out the forward view port to greet her as she joined him at the front of the bridge.

“Ahhh, Milady, I’ve just received word that the hyperdrive for Starkiller Base is nearing completion.”

She cocked her head at him, and he cursed that stoic and indistinguishable mask for what must have been the ten thousandth time. Her voice was annoyingly just as stoic.

“And it will be delivered on time?”

“Ahead of schedule, I’m pleased to report.”

She didn’t seem particularly elated in this news, despite the pride he showed saying it. Her confirmation sounded almost bored, impatient maybe?

“Excellent work General Hux, I’ll pass along the good news to the Supreme Leader”

She seemed to be staring off into the void of the space outside the craft as she said this, and slowly moved past him. The silence that accompanied this made him uneasy, and so he felt it necessary to broach the next subject on his mind.

“And what of the prisoner from Jakku?”

Her head turned slightly back towards him, and he found he preferred the uncomfortable silence to the way she looked at him now.

“What of him?”

He was thrown off by this, and had to stutter out a response, trying his best to keep his back straight.

“I’m simply curious as to our intentions with him”

Her head turned further, and she began back towards him. He instinctively took a step back, but she stopped with enough space between them to at least alleviate the concern that his question warranted her tossing him across the floor.

“As of right now, our intentions are none of your concern, General. Stick to your job, and ensure our base remains out of the prying reach of the Republic.”

What an abysmally annoying but equally unsurprising answer. He was sure she could sense his annoyance with her powers, but frankly didn’t care that much as he gritted out his reply.

“Understood, I’ll await your contact with the Supreme Leader”

He turned on his heel and began off the bridge, suddenly feeling the urge to distance himself from this woman as much as humanly possible. One of his meager assistants, a captain situated near one of the communication stations at the far end of the room, came up to meet him as he moved in that direction. The general cut off the poor man before he could even greet him.

“Advise our engineers to send that hyperdrive the moment it is ready”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This chapter was the first part of the story that I actually wrote, before I even knew that I wanted to make an alternative version of the sequel stories. It all blossomed from this, a simple gender-swap of a scene from Force Awakens.


	4. Secret Construction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the far edge of the galaxy, the First Order constructs a piece of their new secret weapon. But they're not as well-hidden as they think they are...
> 
> A.K.A. Excuse me sir, do you have a permit to build here?

The Outer Rim was one of the toughest areas to control for the New Republic. There were partially substantiated rumors that the First Order had established secretive hyperspace routes from the lower edge of the Unknown Regions into the area, circling well-guarded systems like Hoth and Endor to colonize the asteroid fields that hadn’t seen activity since the early days of the Empire. 

Polis Massa was one of these asteroids. At one point, the small rock had been the meeting place for Jedi outcasts, and rebels wanting to avoid the growing reach of the Imperial fleet. But years of constant rehabilitation due to the rapidly changing landscape of the asteroid, as well as the need to consolidate resources to build the New Republic, had led the Alliance to abandon their base and move most of the fleet in the area further inward, towards the colonized planets of the region.

In that time, rogue pirates had taken advantage of the livable structures built onto the rock, and started contracting illegal activity of all sorts. Smuggling, spice manufacturing, forgery, trafficking. And as of recently, illegal construction, courtesy of their biggest client, the First Order.

The once small outpost had been upgraded and expanded into a multi-purpose facility, thanks to hefty payments by a mysterious benefactor leading up to the contract between the pirates and the Order. It was here that they were entirely dedicated to building a massive hyperdrive, rivaling those seen in super-space stations like the Death Star. 

On the inside of the base, in a control center of sorts, the lead engineer for the Order cut his transmission with General Hux, and turned to a few pirates outfitted for heavy lifting and welding. 

“Begin preparing the transport ship, the sooner that beast is out of our hands, the better”

The workers nodded in acknowledgement, and turned to leave the room, flanked by stormtroopers. 

They were definitely not the only foot-soldiers the rogue military force had sent to “oversee” the massive construction effort. Many detachments of troopers had been there for months, rotating out right when the isolation and dull monotony of their work started to get to their heads. 

The pirates had certainly not requested this much security originally, but the Order had been… quite insistent, to say the least. And with the scope of the work they were doing, many of the workers had begun to fear the wrath of their client should the project end in anything other than exact success.

Outside the facility, stormtroopers with additional supplies of oxygen patrolled the barren surface of the asteroid. The area immediately surrounding the facility had been excavated over the course of the last few decades to the point of being reasonably traversable on foot or by mechanical walker. But many of the canyons and craters beyond that were still as rough and impassable as they had been before the original base was even established.

At least, that’s what the First Order had concluded a few months prior.

Along the eastern ridge, a single figure in an oxygen suit, colored nearly exactly the same as the rocky surface around it, is laying at the edge of the cliff face, observing the outpost and construction facility below through the scope of a modified bowcaster.

Chewbacca hated the oxygen suit. It matted his fur too much, even after just a few minutes wearing it, and he felt like he weighed twice as much as he actually did. Wookies weren’t particularly lightweight to begin with either. He also couldn’t get a good view through the digital scope on his weapon with the lumbering helmet that he had to wear as well. He had long made fun of his friends and allies for dressing up as stormtroopers to sneak around an imperial base, or throwing on massive snow coats to traverse the frozen landscape of a hidden rebel outpost. But now, he couldn’t do that anymore. Now HE was the moron in a big costume. 

At least he could use the excuse that it was the only thing keeping him alive on this hellish piece of space rock. 

After a few moments, Chewie clambered to his feet and began trudging away from the edge of the cliff, his normal steps a little more bouncy against the lower gravity of the asteroid. The elevated cliff narrowed into a ravine of sorts, and twisted and turned until there was a tiny opening ,leading into a cave with a natural opening in the ceiling. It was here that a very particular smuggling freighter had been grounded for what was now the fifth week in a row. 

He was glad that sound wasn’t carried through an airless atmosphere, because as he got close and the ramp to the Millennium Falcon began to lower, he could already tell the poor old man he had left to continue tinkering with the ship hadn’t made much progress in his absence. 

Han Solo was headfirst in a ceiling panel in the main cabin, tinkering with wires and grumbling to himself, seemingly oblivious to the hissing airlock of the entrance signalling the return of his co-pilot. But as Chewie began tossing off the spacesuit in haste, Han’s voice echoed out from where he was nestled in his work.

“Anything?”

Chewie didn’t even look up at him, emitting a whine of defeat as he struggled to fling off a glove. Han could only sigh, and then his head popped into view, the shadow of a day without shaving apparent along his chin.

“By the time we get this hunk of bolts up and running again, they’ll have shipped that drive off to who-knows-where.”

Chewie cocked his head and barked out inquisitively.

“Nah, still can’t find what’s wrong. Working around this new-fangled cloaking device doesn’t help either.”

They both glanced to the other side of the living quarters, where a device much newer than anything else on the ancient ship was haphazardly wired into a control panel , whirring away idly. Han continued.

“I don’t know pal, we may be in the thick of it now”

Suddenly, the commlink across the room started beeping. Han and Chewie looked at each other before Han pulled himself from the ceiling and moved across to the communication station, activating the transmission.

“This is Captain Solo, go ahead”

“Han…” Leia’s voice was rough to decipher through the interference of the asteroid field around them, but even with all that, she sound defeated

“Leia...” Han gave Chewie a sideways glance, “we still can’t bring the Falcon to life”

“Why am I not surprised…”

“We’re keeping an eye on that drive as best we can, but if we’re gonna put that tracker on it, we need to-”

“Ben’s been taken by the First Order”

….

Han suddenly didn’t give half a damn about the hyperdrive, or the Falcon’s state of disrepair. He looked at the communications array, confused.

“Taken? Like kidnapped?”

“On Jakku, he was trying to beat the Order to some type of holodrive.”

Han looks puzzled.

“A drive? I didn’t know you sent him on scavenger hunts...”

Leia would have normally challenged the sarcastic tone in her husband’s voice, but instead she just continued elaborating.

“When the tip came through, we didn’t know what it was, and when he heard the Order was after it, he wanted to try and beat them to it. He’s still beaten up about what happened on Naboo last year.”

Naboo had been one of the first systems to assimilate into the New Republic after the fall of the Empire. And as the home-world of the former Emperor, it was also one of the first targets for the First Order. While the rogue state hadn’t yet attempted direct assaults of systems so deeply embedded in Republic territory, there were countless reports of spies and saboteurs causing unrest among local governments and inciting protests.

The Special Forces had been called to Naboo after rumors of a coup against the queen became mainstream, and it was discovered that a group sympathetic to the old Empire had been planning a takeover, in order to annex the planet from the New Republic. With members of the coup hiding among civilians, and rumors of corruption within the local police force, Ben and his team had gone undercover, and tried to weed out the problem. This had led to a public shootout, with the deaths of two innocent citizens caught in the crossfire. Han had never seen his wife or his son in the same way after that.

“And he… he’s gone?” Han’s voice began to break, but he did his best to hold himself together.

Leia didn’t immediately respond, not quite sure of what to say to that.

“He can take care of himself Han…”

“I know that!” Han lashed out, clearly frustrated, “but you remember what happened the last time he was exposed to that dark side nonsense…”

“I remember, he was just a kid then. He always knew that this might happen if he started taking assignments on the outer reaches instead of planetary-”

“I told you he should have come with me.”

“Han, don’t! Don’t start that again! It was his choice to become a naval officer.”

“Yeah but don’t pretend for a second that you weren’t pushing him into it…”

“What else was there, smuggling?”

Han knew that Leia had never enjoyed seeing him in his old line of work, before or after the end of the old war. 

“He could have done anything, this wouldn’t have happened if he were here”

“You don’t know that. Besides, he never wanted that life”

Han knew it, and so did Chewie apparently, piping up next to him with a line akin to “Always a soldier-boy”

Han rolled his eyes and turned back to his longest friend.

“Oh yeah? Well you can go and find him then, you fur-bag!”

All Chewie could do was snap back with an indignant growl. Han turned back to the comm and grumbled.

“Oh, like you’re a bastion of youth…”

“Would you two stop?!?!” came the irritated voice of his wife from the comm station.

Han threw his hands up and sputtered. 

“Well we can’t sit by while our son is gone!”

“We’re already looking for him, but there are so many places in the Unknown Areas the Order could be hiding in, and we haven’t even begun to chart them out.”

“Sweetheart, the Falcon can navigate better than any ship in your fleet-”

“And right now it's a dead-weight” 

Han had never been one to take criticism of his ship sitting down, even if it was warranted.

“We can get her running!”

“You better!” Leia replied in the same tone, “I can’t have you two sitting around working on the Falcon, when we can put you to better use.”

Han rolls his eyes, “Better use… thanks honey”

“Get that piece of junk running, and plant that tracker, then you can lecture me about your usefulness. Let us stick to finding Ben…”

Han snorted.

“If he takes after us, he’s already causing trouble for em’, probably sneaking around their little hidden base like we used to do”

Finally, the smallest chuckle from Leia through the comm adds a punctuation of lightheartedness to the otherwise grim conversation. She even felt like playing off of him with a little quip.

“I wonder if the First Order uses trash compactors…”

There was silence between everyone for a brief moment, and then Leia continued.

“The second we find him, I’ll let you know”

Chewie chirped next to Han, who used the opportunity to switch the topic.

“Chewie’s been checking the factory daily, they can’t be that far off from finishing this hyperdrive, more ships are going in and out than normal. Probably not a coincidence.”

“It’s not… I can feel it”

Han scoffed and waved his hand, “Aw geez, here we go again”

“I’m just saying Han… I haven’t paid attention to the force in a while… but there’s a disturbance that I’m not used to.”

While he had learned to trust the force to a degree, Han was still very weary of “disturbances” that couldn’t be pinned to anything particular.

“I hope Ben can stick to his guns and keep away from it...”

Leia didn’t respond, and after a few moments of silence, the communication link faded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, unlike every chapter up to this point, the next one is... not actually written out fully yet. 
> 
> I mean, I know what I want it to be about, I just need to... actually write it.


	5. Fighting For Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia puts on her best political face, and attempts to convince the rest of the counselors that the risk of a new war is worth the life of her son... and whatever else he may have...

“I’m not asking as the mother of a Republic officer, I’m asking as the leader of an army that is stretched across the galaxy trying to find these people!”

“We’re aware of the state of the military, counselor. But the very fact that we are stretched so thin is precisely why we haven’t been able to recover hostages from the Order before.”

Leia was used to being cut into by the rest of the board. Despite her tenure, she had her fair share of enemies within the government. Her term as counselor would have been cut short years ago were it up to her fellow bureaucrats, and not the constituents of her region.

She leaned forward against the grand table and rested a few fingers on her temple, taking a breath before trying to rebut. Luckily, Counselor Garr, one of the few people she could call a friend, sitting a few seats from her, piped up.

“The Order doesn’t just march onto planets outside of the Unknown Regions for fun, its clear whatever they were looking for, whatever we recovered, has some strategic importance.”

Leia took the chance to chime in. “Until we decode the data, we won’t know exactly how important it is, but whoever gave it to Ben must have known, and probably told him.”

And like clockwork, her ally down the table piggy-backed off of her. “And if they did, he now has information of value to the Order.”

Across the room, one of the counselors already objecting to Leia’s proposal, Stice, spoke up again.

“So for all we know, they’ve already unleashed that little magician of theirs on him…”

“We don’t know!” Leia snapped her head to him and spoke crossly.

He was taken back, and raised his hands. “I only mean… objectively speaking, we don’t know if any effort will offer more strategic value to us than it would to them.”

And then, across the room, a far more tired voice spoke up for the first time in the meeting.

“We don’t even know if this drive contains anything of strategic value in the first place. The order is capable of finding false information just as we are.”

Leia glanced at Counselor Dause, a portly elder man that was second longest serving in the Republic, after her. He continued, immediately coming off as the wise-man of the council, and many would concur that he was the closest thing they had to one.

“Leia, we all understand the stakes that you have in this situation, and we pain to see any of our own fall to the Order, particularly someone as talented as commander Solo…”

A heavy sigh broke his statements, and she could tell was just as disappointed saying this as she was hearing it.

“...but our job comes before all of that. Situations like this are precisely why it was left up to the council to make decisions such as entering the Unknown Region during a period of cold conflict…”

Counselor Stice now followed up with a much softer tone.

“...none of us will garner popularity with the senate for taking our job to personal levels.”

Leia snapped her head to him, “Popularity is not what keeps me at this table!”

He raised his hands again, and she realized she was chastising him far too much.

“I’m simply offering that our own personal qualms are not the only thing this council need consider.”

Leia sank back into her chair and kept her fingers pinched around the bridge of her nose. This was all too much. She had expected push back, but even her friends around the table were quiet now. They all knew the tactical disadvantage of diving headfirst after somebody into unknown enemy territory.

The Republic had been keeping the Order at bay in their own piece of the galaxy for years now. There was a reason the ongoing cold war hadn’t yet escalated into full conflict. The Republic could bear it, but only if they knew what to look for. Sending any portion of the fleet on a wild bantha chase could be exactly what the Order is waiting for. And the last thing anyone in the room wanted was another war.

“What about the task force?” Leia pitched after a few moments of silence.

More silence met her question, as counselors exchanged glances.

“What about them?”

She rolled her eyes, “One cruiser, not a big part of the fleet, let me send them in after him.”

A younger, Rylothian aide set a glass of water down next to Leia.

“They’re fighters, not scavengers,” Interjected another opponent of hers, a shorter fellow by the name of Moscot, “while they are under your direct command, it would still be monumentally risky to push them into something like this.”

“They’ve done worse before.” Leia interjected.

“Yes, at full ranks, with strategic planning beforehand.”

Across from her, Counselor Klerick, who had also been remarkably quiet throughout this ordeal rolled his eyes and leaned forward, resting his hands on the table.

“I don’t believe lecturing our highest military general on how her units are run is the best course of action here…”

He wasn’t exactly on her side, but Leia could sense he wanted a solution the same way she did. Now, minute bickering and chatter was breaking out amongst some of the counselors sitting next to each other. There were few of them that Leia could bear to look at right now.

“One command ship will not break our fleet” came the tried and true voice of Counselor Garr.

No one could really dispute that. What they could say, however…

“But losing our best fighting force right as we are on the brink of a war, just might…”

“It won’t” Leia said firmly, “and we won’t lose them. I know Lieutenant Dameron better than that.”

She shook her head, and continued.

“None of them will want to sit by, or be sent off somewhere else while their commander is missing, and they know how to handle situations like this. Being in over their head isn’t exactly an option for these guys.”

There was silence, and Leia looked around to each face staring back at her. It was her most vocal opponent that responded first.

“Do we have any idea where the Order took the commander ?”

She leaned back with… not exactly a smile on her face, but something indicating pride at the most basic forms of progress in the conversational battle.

“Not exactly…” she pulled out a flat tablet, and pressed a button on the digital screen, illuminating a map of the lower half of the Unknown Region. “They were last spotted heading in this direction away from Jakku,” a line emanated from the charted planet and veered into darker areas, “as we all know, like any other part of the charted galaxy, there will be hyperspace lanes, likely established by the Order themselves, to traverse across. If we can find one, we can start checking off boxes.”

“And what do we do if they find anything?” asked someone across the table, “a rescue mission behind enemy lines might as well amount to a declaration of war.”

Leia has already prepared her line for this moment, “A war with the Order is inevitable, if we can find any of their bases, or whatever they’re building that hyperdrive in the Outer Rim for, it may be time to consider pulling the trigger.”

Counselor Dause cleared his throat. “And you are aware, counselor Organa, that a declaration of war requires a vote of the senate?”

She had been waiting for this. Months of lobbying within her own system, and she held her head high at the table in this moment.

“It is my intention to propose a declaration against the First Order, officially, by the end of the month. Discovering their stronghold would only escalate the rhetoric.”

Some of her fellow counselors stared at her in mild shock, others with a little impressiveness at her forward thinking, and many unsure of just what to make of it all. Counselor Garr now spoke up, albeit somewhat timidly.

“We have all been putting off this declaration for years now, perhaps recent events should serve as motivation”

“Do we have the fleet to sustain a war?” asked a worried face down the table.

Leia turned to them, “The Order has half of our resources, and has been hiding in a quarter of our territory for barely half the time we’ve controlled the inner systems. The concordance may have limited our naval capacity, but with a coordinated effort we still highly outnumber the estimates given by our spies.”

This caused more murmuring around the table. Most counselors agreed with the principle of the war, but many had often found excuses to suppress the motion for the time being, or leave it up to the senate to decide on their own. Dause peered across at Leia, and when he spoke all became quiet.

“If you intend to propose a declaration of war, then I shall stand behind you…” he glanced at a few worried face, “but I think I speak for much of the dissenting voice in this room when I say we need due cause… if the task force can find enough of the First Order to justify a campaign, and if the senate is poised to approve military action…” he leaned back in his seat, “then, well, it’ll be in your court to decide, princess....”

She hadn’t been referred to as royalty in quite some time. The smirk on the older man’s face indicated it was meant in jest, but Leia also sensed a hint of challenge behind his words. Organize a full senate ruling AND locate the elusive First Order at the same time?

Leia smirked and glanced around the table, “I’ve rarely disappointed you before, and I don’t intend to start now…”

The table was silent again, and then Dause replied.

“The task force is yours to command as you wish, counselor. Please keep us apprised as to their progress”

Most of the counselors stood, signalling the closing of the impromptu meeting. Leia bowed and gave them all a grateful smile.

“Thank you all”

And with that, movement began. Some counselors immediately turned to leave, others stayed near each other to engage in small talk. Leia turned and made her way from the room, giving the poor golden protocol droid following behind her quite the walking pace to keep up with.

“Threepio, tell Lieutenant Dameron to begin the ‘Lost Spark Protocol’,” she rounded a corner, entering a section of the administrative capital building designated as a decryption center. Approaching a console with many huddled technicians, C3PO bid her farewell and left to carry out her commands, and as she approached one of the young teenagers occupying the computer stood up straight.

“Ah, Counselor, we were about to call for you”

“What is it, Dak?”

She was already looking at the screen before he motioned to it. The contents of the mystery holodrive lay in a sequence, but it wasn’t recognizable as much of anything. Folders without connection to each other, symbols and languages she had seen in passing through her life, but certainly wasn’t an expert on.

“It’s all a bit of a mess, ma’am”

“I can see that, anything making sense yet?”

The tech tilted his head slightly and looked at the screen with her, a bit strained.

“Little bits here and there, it almost reads like an old smugglers guide.”

Leia arched her brow and glanced at him, “What kind of guide?”

“From what we can see so far, it’s something to do with a missing person.”

“Who’s the missing person?”

He shrugged hesitantly, “Someone from the time of the Empire, by the looks of it. Much of this data is years old, could be completely obsolete…”

She split her glance between him and the console, he appeared uneasy. And Leia Organa was never one to let a face like that go unnoticed.

“There’s something else, isn’t there…”

Dak used his controls to zoom in on certain folders within the sub-database.

“There is… I can’t identify it, but something very ancient is encoded with this data. I’m surprised the computer can even pick it up, this predates the Clone Wars…”

“The data does?”

“No ma’am, the encryption protecting it. I couldn’t even begin to crack it, just due to compatibility with our current technology.” he looked at her with a somber face, “I’m sorry”

She let out a long sigh and, just before speaking, felt a spike from her core. It was a spike she hadn’t felt in some time, and it came from somewhere she was still getting used to.

The Force.

Her eyes narrowed and she leaned in closer to the screen.

“Are there any discernible languages within the decryption?”

Dak tilted his head, and she could tell he hadn’t thought of this.

“Not that I can easily pick out, but if you’d like I can dig a little deeper and see what I can find?”

Leia gave him an easy smile and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Please. Cross reference it with our archives of the Jedi Order, I have a funny feeling in my gut.”

He nodded, and immediately began interacting further with the data.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll keep you updated.”

A final squeeze on his shoulder, and then Leia turned to leave the room. But she didn’t move as quickly as she might normally. She had places to go, things to arrange for. Despite all that, something new in her mind was distracting her. She hadn’t felt this kind of presence in decades.

It was only a spike, and the most gentle of ones at that. But even with her slight knowledge of the mystical power within her family, the sensation was hard to pin on anyone else.

Luke...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, I'm doing my best to make up for it with the next one!


	6. New Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Round two of Ben Solo vs. Isaera Revan! She normally doesn't interrogate the other men in her life this way, to say the least...

Ben didn’t dream very often, mostly due to a chronic lack of sleep. His work never gave him many opportunities to lay back and get a good amount of rest. But the times that he does remember dreaming, it was always hazy and indistinguishable. There were voices, sounds, nothing he could identify from his past or present. Maybe it was the future. If it was, he had no clue what it meant.

This time was different. He knew these voices. His mother was the easiest to recognize.

_Your uncle was strong in the force, like the rest of our family_

He was a kid again, jumping between apartment balconies on Hosnian. He remembered doing this as a child.

_It was his determination and love that turned Darth Vader to the light_

He landed in a small clearing, a tiny garden that he remembered was his mother's favorite pastime whenever she wasn't working. She hadn’t tended to flowers since… Alderaan. He wished he could have seen it.

But now wasn’t the time for that. Ben pulled a small sword, a piece of metal he had fashioned after… a lightsaber, at least what he could remember a lightsaber looking like. He had never really seen one up close. But this would do the trick just fine. He swung the fake blade through the air, occasionally hitting it against the ground.

_The jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy, destined to defeat the sith and maintain balance in the force_

Now his vision faded, and he found himself sitting in the living area of his parent’s home. The sun was setting outside, and his fake lightsaber leaned against the wall in the corner of the room. And across from Ben, as stoic as he can remember, was his Uncle Luke.

_“Reach out with your mind, feel the force around you”_

When Ben responded, his voice was… so much lighter. Innocent and eager as a child often is.

_“I feel it! I feel it”_

His uncles voice didn’t change.

_“What do you feel?”_

Though his eyes were closed, Ben could feel sensations around him. He could see, even when he couldn’t. How did that work?

_“I see… life… brightness… and… and shadows… darkness…”_

_“There must always be balance…”_

Ben’s vision faded again, and now he was hiding behind a barrister in the same room, at a different time. It was the middle of the night, his parent’s paced between each other, not fighting, but still speaking roughly to each other. He poked his head out, just in time to see his Uncle standing near the opposite doorway.

_“I’ve seen too much, Leia…”_

Now his father spoke, voice much darker than Ben ever remembered him being.

_“Does it have to do with Ben?”_

_“He’s strong with the force, I fear him being led towards the dark”_

Leia, mom, had more hope in what she asked of him.

_“Than keep him away! Like with our father!”_

_“… I feel… I feel conflict myself.”_

And now it was his mothers turn to speak in a darker tone. _“You don’t mean…”_

_“No, no, of course not…. But I can’t give Ben… anyone… the answers they need until I have them myself.”_

Silence. Even his loudmouth father couldn’t find words.

_“....and I won’t find them here…”_

_“Where will you go?”_

_“I’m not sure… but once I find what it is, I will be back.”_

_“What about our son?”_

Now the silence was truly deafening. Ben could feel his childlike wonder fading, replaced by the very adult feeling of abandonment and confusion.

_“He must find his own path, until I can guide him the way the force asks of me…”_

And now, Ben fought the fading of his vision when it came. He had only remembered bits and pieces of this memory before now, and he didn’t want it to go.

Why had Luke left?

Had this all been in his head, hidden away?

Now, he was on an island. He didn’t recognize it, even from his years of service on countless planets. The island was surrounded by nothing but ocean. The sky was clear, less clouds and more blue than he had ever seen on Hosnian, maybe even Naboo. Water splashed against the rock faces, and there are structures older than anything he’d ever seen dotting the cliffs and inclines of the mass of land. Then he saw someone. Instinct told him who this was, but for the moment they faced away from him, a hood drawn over their head.

All he could do was try and walk forward, but his legs felt ten times heavier than they actually were. He wasn’t even sure he was moving. When he spoke, it sounded like his words were slurred, bouncing through his head and only coming out of his mouth as a quiet, dull monotone.

_“Uncle…”_

He didn’t even sound like himself. And as quickly as he found him, the vision of the hooded figure on the island faded away, and Ben tried to yell again before he found himself swallowed up whole.

 

*****

 

Ben snapped awake in the torture chair, quite violently given the dream he’d been having, and resigned to heaving for air, head held low in the subdued light of the room. He shut his eyes, shaking his head as things he hadn’t thought about in years were now racking around his head at lightspeed.

It couldn’t be.

And then, like a second rude awakening, a familiar distorted voice piped up.

“A balance…”

He jumped, and his head shot up to stare back at his captor, hovered in a shadowed corner of the room, staring back at him with crossed arms.

“How long have you been there?”

She didn’t respond at first, he could imagine what was going on beneath the mask.

“Long enough…”

What the hell did that mean?

Had she seen him too?

He immediately regretted letting himself drift so far into his own mind. She was watching him, reading him, she could have seen everything. And for the life of him, he wanted to stop her. But how…

Ben rolled his eyes and shot out at her quite pointedly.

“Watching my dreams too?”

“Some of them, I’m still perfecting the way to enter someone’s deeper, passive thoughts…”

Well at least she was honest.

He narrowed his eyes. “... just don’t know when to stop, do you?”

A noise emanated from the helmet. A scoff? Snort? It was so hard to tell with the vocoder processing everything, and that was probably half the damn point of it.

“I do, but you’re… fascinating. Your feelings are so…. Conflicted… confused…. You’re unsure of the force..”

He huffed and looked in another direction.

“I know what the force does to people” he didn’t hide the way he alluded to her own self, “good and bad. I’d rather leave it be.”

Her head tilted, and he noticed she was speaking far softer than the first time they had really interacted.

“We rarely have such control over our own destiny… the force is calling to you, whether you want it to or not.”

Was she toying with him? He shook his head and coughed up a little residual dried blood.

“I’ve lived without it just fine, until you strapped me to this chair and poked around my brain like some kind of lab experiment.”

“Forgive me, I haven’t encountered anyone this strong with the force in a long time…”

He let out a weak laugh in response to that, wishing he at least had some water to keep the sound of croaking out of his throat.

“I doubt you’ve kept anyone alive long enough to find out that much about them.”

“Come now, don’t be so obtuse, you know it doesn’t work that way...”

She sounded like she was scolding him. Great, another mother figure, just what he needed.

He felt a gag and incidentally coughed up more blood, albeit this wasn’t dried. After recovering, he realized she was slowly approaching him, and as she did her voice got quieter and quieter. She raised a hand, and already he felt her influence prod into his skull.

“I just can’t seem to help myself…”

He was just about out of patience, snapping his head to her.

“Don’t start this again!”

She didn’t even flinch, but her voice changed, now she just sounded irritated.

“Make me. You probably could if you weren’t so conflicted and unbalanced”

His reactionary anger faded, and he lowered his head again. “

Yeah, well the more you pry out of me, the less conflicted I’m going to feel about it”

And then he heard something he truly didn’t expect, which made it all the more worrisome: laughter. It wasn’t at him, no… it sounded like the most sinister laughter he’d ever heard.

“That’s entirely the idea, handsome…”

Now he really had no qualms about groaning at her.

“Don’t call me that…”

“Why not? Not one for compliments?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“A compliment, from the likes of you… I’d rather be spit on.”

“You’re very presumptive of someone you’ve only just met.”

Now that was funny, so much so that he ignored the resistance in his throat, letting out a brash laugh and nearly finding the strength to smirk at her.

“Really? Presumptive of the murderous sith enforcer of the First Order? The woman who’s killed and tortured her way across the far reaches of the galaxy? Who’s strapped me to a chair and laced her greedy little tentacles in my mind… who hides behind a mask and a scary voice?”

By the time he finished, he realized he was on the verge of yelling. And the longer he looked at the expressionless front of her mask, the more he wanted to free himself just to punch it square between the eyes.

When she replied, and it was a few moments before she did, he detected a little venom to her return bite.

“I’ve done what is necessary in my work, the same as you”

That made him lash out against the restraints. She was making it personal.

“Don’t! Don’t you dare start comparing us!”

He was huffing. The dryness of his throat and the weakness in his soul seemed forgotten as his anger burned throughout his being. He gritted his teeth, and shot a final jab at her.

“We are nothing alike…”

Then something inside of him poked out of all that anger and bile. He couldn’t really tell what it was, but it felt… softer. It was a quiet, gentle prod, that tried to break into the aggression he was currently spewing out at her. In an instant he let it in, and felt much calmer, back to something he recognized as his normal self.

What was happening to him?

She picked up on it too, because when she finally replied to him, she sounded mildly amused.

“You’re quite fun when you’re angry…”

He slumped back into the position he had grown accustomed to in this little torture device he was strapped to, and now didn’t find it in him to look back at her.

“Glad you’re enjoying yourself…” His words dripped with sarcasm.

There was another bout of silence between them, and he waited for her to try and push into his mind again, but it didn’t happen. Now he was just afraid to look up at her, not sure of what he’d see when he did. All he could muster was a feeble whine of defiance.

“You won’t get me to use the force.”

Though he couldn’t see it, she was coming closer. The clunk of her boots against the floor and the… sensation, of another body approaching told him that.

“I don’t need to. Your destiny is clearer than anything I’ve seen in a long time. You can feel it too… I know you do.”

He snorted, “If I remember the stories correctly, I’m a little too late for all of that.”

This didn’t seem to throw her off whatsoever, much to his chagrin.

“Without guidance or training, one can go their entire lives without realizing their power. If you don’t believe me, ask your mother.”

That did it. He snapped again, and pulled at his restraints. He didn’t even realize it, but the metal frame of his torture chair creaked a bit, and the lights in the room around them barely flickered.

“Don’t you dare talk about my family!”

She looked around, definitely taking notice as to what he had done, even indirectly.

“Be careful Solo, lest your anger escape you again...”

He didn’t calm down this time, glaring at her as if she had murdered a child right in front of him.

“You haven’t seen me angry yet…”

He didn’t care if she was egging him on, but the way she reacted told him he definitely was. Her face drew closer to his, and her tone of voice just made him angrier.

“I’d very much like to, though,” she was now speaking sensually, almost like she was… propositioning him. He must have appeared as confused on the outside as he was on the inside, because she proceeded to chuckle, and started circling the chair, “I can feel it… all that emotion, the passion, bottled up inside of you. Begging to be let out…”

Even through that distorted mask, he could hear just how much she was playing into this. He had to shut his eyes and ignore the simmering under his skin, taking a few breaths to calm himself.

This was what she wanted. He had to stop giving her what she wanted!

Now he just felt weird inside. He hadn’t felt the force pull at his insides like this in… well, had he ever felt anything like this? Not that he could remember, at least. Her voice broke him out of his self-reflection, and he had to wonder how she battled that electronic garble to make her voice sound softer.

“I’ve felt it too, you know, I was like that once…”

Was she really trying trying this?

He rolled his eyes, “Please spare your attempt to relate to me,” he nodded to her head, “the mask alone isn’t helping you...”

She was quiet for but a brief moment.

“What if I took it off?”

Why, oh why, did he have to open his mouth at all?

He was definitely caught off guard by how readily she had suggested it. For the longest time, since he had first heard the rumors about her, Ben had been curious as to what was underneath that expressionless metal plate. If the stories were to be believed, no one had seen her face, at least not in a long time. Was she some grotesque alien, or disfigured like his grandfather had apparently been?

He couldn’t stop that curiosity coming back in full force in that moment, and she seemed to pick up on it immediately, cocking her head to the side. In the silence that followed, he could pick up mild breathing through the mask. Isaera slowly raised her hands, and placed them around the brim of the helmet’s chin, on either side. There was a distinct mechanical snap, and the bottom of the mouth and chin piece of the helmet came out. As she pulled the helmet off, he could hear the padding inside slide against her skin in retaliation.

His eyes narrowed as her face was exposed to him.

She was younger than he was…

At least, she certainly looked like it. If he hadn’t known any better, he could have picked her out of a first-year class at the Republic naval academy. Her dark hair was tied up neatly, just like a cadet too. She had a very pale look about her skin, at least her face, which made sense if she always had that damn helmet on. But what really caught his attention were her eyes. Mostly dark, with an unnatural red and yellow glow that teased the edges of her pupils. He didn’t know much of the sith, but this had to be the result of the dark side truly poisoning her body. Even still, the longer he looked into her eyes, the more he started to sense something else, something hidden underneath. And that added on to the barrage of comments his brain started to toss out before he could stop them.

There was an innocence to her face, something vulnerable lying beneath the surface. She certainly didn’t fit what he had envisioned all this time.

She was too pretty to be evil.

And it showed. The paleness and shadows in her face, and the darkness within her eyes seemed more unnatural because it truly didn’t fit the rest of her features. He could already see a different version of her appearing in his head. A face with more color, hair down and sweeping to her shoulders, the natural shade of her eyes shining bright. He imagined she might have brown eyes.

When she looked back at him, he could see her eyes twitch and dart as if she was studying him in the same way. He couldn’t tell if this was normal for her, maybe she was used to showing more expression behind the mask, knowing no one could see it. And then, her lip curved up on one side, and she got the most mischievous look in her eyes. He looked at her, confused at first, and then his eyes went wide as he remembered. Of course she was reading his mind. He hadn’t even tried to control himself.

She let out a chuckle, and her natural tone of voice didn’t at all help the daydream he had spouted in his head.

“All that, just from one look at me...” she barely lowered her head.

Wait, was she blushing?

He had no idea what to say. Instead he shook his head and forced everything out of his head.

Enemy combatant. Murderer. Witch.

A beautiful witch...

No, stop it! Stop! She’d done unspeakable things.

She let out a roll of laughter, reacting to the voices in his head as if they were real people arguing right in front of her.

“What a conundrum indeed, darling…”

Her words rolled from her tongue like butter, he was seriously wondering why she needed to voice scrambler in the first place. The prickly sweetness in her real voice was almost worse than the robotic mystery of before.

He gulped, and now he had no way to hide the desperation in his voice. He didn’t threaten her next, he pled.

“Don’t call me that!”

Her brow furrowed, and her face fell into a pout

“Oh, after all I’ve heard I can’t be a little more personal?”, in an instant, her sad pout became a nearly seductive grin, “Were you expecting a disfigured monster?”

That just plainly annoyed him, and he let it show.

“There’s more to a monster than just the way they look.” he glanced at the door across the room, “Let me guess… you don’t want to waste the effort convincing those big tough officers how to be afraid of a pretty little girl, so you let a garbled voice and the force do it all for you.”

Her devilish smile didn’t fade, but her eyes narrowed.

“You’re deflecting, I must be having more of an effect that I thought...”

It was all Ben could do to roll his eyes at her, “Don’t act like you know me just because you heard some impulsive thoughts… you’re prettier than someone with your reputation has any right to be.”

Her smile widened, and he felt another jolt of regret course through him.

“Is that regret I hear?”

He raised an eye, “What do I have to regret?”

She tut-tutted and started circling him again, “Oh come now, don’t be so naive…” when she looped around and leaned into his ear again, the heat from her face and the splash of her breath was far different than when it was through the mask, “I can sense everything, Ben… not just those pesky little flashes of thought that you tried to stop… you don’t even realize what’s in your head...”

He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, even acknowledge her existence.

There was no way she did this with any of her other prisoners. That realization just made him feel more vulnerable. She whispered out before he could even think of a response.

“...or maybe you do, but like the force, you just want to pretend it isn’t there…”

“Stop.”

It was all he could muster. He didn't know what to think, what she wouldn’t hear. She was picking into him like it was nothing. She cooed the next words into his ear like she was trying to seduce him.

“Don’t be afraid Ben, your soul is practically screaming to me”

It was then that he felt the sensation again. The familiar sensation, of her pushing into his mind with more than just passive curiosity. He could see her remove a glove from one hand and raise it near his head in his peripheral vision. The air shifted near his temple, and her fingers were a hair width apart from his skin.

She pushed further, the pain in his head throbbed faster, to the point that he began to feel nauseous as a result.

“Show me…. everything…”

Suddenly, the dam broke, and he was tossed out of reality. Like his dream from earlier, everything was hazy, but the throb of the pain from her mental attack was now a resounding whine, emitting all around him, like an alarm.

His dreams began passing by in front of him, replayed at lightning speed, barely distinguishable to him, but he wasn’t controlling it.

He was just a witness.

He couldn’t be just a witness.

Ben tried to calm himself, and just the effort from that alone seemed to quiet the whining all around him, which was encouraging. The flashes of his memory continued whirring past, and he knew the more he saw, the more she did as well. Occasionally, something slowed down, and he was forced to endure her reliving his private memories and dreams. She seemed to linger on the ones of him with his parents quite a bit.

He shook himself of that distraction, trying to figure out how to stop her. And just as he started to focus on it, a voice he didn’t recognize echoed around the space.

_Feel the force within you…_

He looked around. Who was that? Were they in his head too? Then he felt something. Like a tug from his side, but not quite. It was warm, and felt… innocent. He let the images in front of him continue to play as he sought out the source of this newfound sensation. It didn’t feel foreign at all, it felt like it… was a part of him. But he had never experienced it before, which was weird to say the least.

It found him before he found it, and the oddly familiar warmth enveloped him, like a blanket. The whining was now all but gone, a distant fading sound. And before he could stop it, the warmth started to spread around him, coming off of him in waves, just as the pain had impacted him a moment ago.

The barriers around began to shudder, and quake, and the memory in front of him stopped entirely. The next voice in his head was much more familiar, and she didn’t sound happy.

_What are you doing?_

She should have known him better than that by now. He began to move within his own mind, and the more he accepted the guidance of this… warm sensation around him, the more control he had. He pushed further, and the memories in front of him began moving faster and faster.

She was rushing to find out as much as she could.

He reached out and let the sensation around him move on its own. He could feel her influence dimming, and dimming.

There was the island.

On no…

He couldn’t do anything more but keep pushing away her tendrils, and it wasn’t happening fast enough. His vision of the hooded figure zoomed by, and then the replay of his own voice punctuated it all.

_Uncle._

In his panic he cried out, but there was no taking it back. The space around him exploded, and he was snapped back into reality.

His eyes snapped open, and he felt a rush of air in his lungs. His head was clear. He glanced over. Isaera’s eyes were still closed, and her face was what he imagined he had looked like just a moment ago; pained, struggling, confused.

And then, the warmth came back. But it wasn’t in his psyche now, he could feel it in the room with them, surrounding him the same way as before. But in an instant, the warmth was jabbed with the cold reminder of what she’d seen, as she whispered the name out loud.

“Luke Skywalker…”

Suddenly Ben started to feel outside of his own body again, back as a witness to everything he was doing, and not an actual participant. The warmth around him flared outward, like he was emanating more of it by the second, and gathered around her. Just before he lost vision again, he could hear himself let out a hoarse yell, and her face contorted in confused fear.

He felt the blurry sensation again, like he was being tossed back into his own mind. But he didn’t recognize where he landed. He couldn’t see as much, things were darker, and he felt much more like a stranger in this weird space. In front of him, visions began to play out, but he didn’t recognize any of them. They couldn’t have been his. But they featured him.

He was on some sort of bridge. It wasn’t like the bridges of the Republic ships he had trained on, or served on-board of. It looked… like an Imperial ship. He remembered the pictures of Imperial star destroyers from the academy, but this was different. Everything looked a little more black, the officers walking around weren’t wearing Imperial uniforms.

This was a First Order destroyer’s bridge.

He was standing alone, at the front viewport, staring out at the void of space beyond. He tried to speak, but heard nothing. It was odd watching this version of himself from afar, he couldn’t control this Ben at all.

This Ben was wearing darker robes, not even a uniform like the other officers. It reminded him of a jedi, or sith rather. He looked a lot like the sith lords he remembered reading about.

Before he could think further on it, someone else joined him from behind. Her. She came up to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. She didn’t have her helmet on, and glanced at him with… was that pride? Contentment? And he watched himself lean into her, as she touched him. Supportively. Reliantly.

He heard her voice next, but her mouth didn’t move.

_I knew you’d make the right choice._

This odd daydreamed version of himself leaned further in, and rested his forehead against hers. The vision began to blur just as they began to kiss, and a new darker, rougher voice boomed around the same way her’s had, but much louder, and very much angrier.

_This boy… this distraction… he’s made you weak! Unbalanced!_

Who the hell was that?

He couldn’t even imagine, because the blurring became a new scene. It was some dark room. Isaera was in the center of darkness, helmet on, knelt before someone. But Ben couldn’t see who. Her robotically altered voice echoed in the space.

_He hasn’t! I swear to you, my master, he hasn’t!_

And then she began to keel over, and the most unsettling and unrecognizable noise emitted from her mask. After a moment, the distortion of the vocoder cleared away, and actual yelling became distinguishable. She was starting to keel over, barely able to holder herself on one knee.

_Do not insult me with lies!_

She reached up and violently wrenched the helmet from her head, face contorted in pain, and a very dark shade of red. She gasped for air, a loud pang as the helmet unceremoniously fell from her hand and landed on the ground. Her pleas sounded so… defeated, desperate… weak.

_He’s nothing!_

She couldn’t be talking about Ben…

He couldn’t process everything he was seeing, it was all so fast. This must be her mind. Was this what she had to do with him? Sort through it all as best she could before the next thing happened? He imagined she probably had more control than this, and was likely used to sifting through things she saw quickly.

Nevertheless, it took him a moment to realize the scene had changed again, now she was standing in some type of hololift, alone. There was a gradual hum as the lights around the walls occasionally dimmed. The grizzly chastising from the unknown voice were still lingering in the air.

_Unbalanced…_

_Exposed…_

_Smitten…_

That last word really seemed to get to her, her hand rocketed from her side, curled into a fist, and impacted the wall of the lift, smashing into the panels of light. There was a terrible shudder, and the lift came to a halt.

At least, Ben presumed it came to a halt, because the shudder also racked him out of this vivid experience, and tossed him back into the torture room, heaving for air.

He was slightly scared to glance over at her. When he did, she was staring back at him in shock. Ben certainly didn’t know what to say to her, his mind was still processing everything he had seen. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was thinking too.

In that moment, his mouth created words before his brain could review them, and spilled them out just as quickly. His voice was a hoarse whisper.

“You’re afraid…”

Her eyes widened, and a multitude of emotions flashed over her features in quick succession; anger, fear, hesitation. By now he couldn’t stop what he was saying, his mouth just kept moving.

“You’re afraid… because you actually have feelings… for me...”

He started to get his faculties back, and she only remained quiet. He contorted his lips into something similar to a sneer.

“Guess I’m not the only one with a crush I don’t want…”

Finally, that made her react. Her eyes narrowed, and her face twisted until she was… smiling at him. That wasn’t the reaction he expected. And that probably made it even better for her. Her eye had another little twinkle in it, and her head barely tilted to the side. He almost didn’t hear her when she rebutted, practically whispering.

“It’s not my feelings I’m afraid of…”

She leaned in, and he jumped out of his skin when he felt lips against his cheek, trying to angle his head away and not let her get away with something like that. He didn’t see her face as she pulled back from him, and the next thing he knew she was walking towards the door. It was her last words that sent a chill down his spine.

“You still have so much to learn...”

She reached out and called her helmet to her hand with the force, barely sliding it on before the door opened. Right in the nick of time too, the two stormtroopers posted on the other side snapped to attention, but she did little to acknowledge them as she passed and headed down the hall.

Ben didn’t stop staring at the door, even after it closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bigger chapter for all you wonderful people! :D


	7. The Supreme Leader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dark warrior of the First Order consults her master, and their intentions for the New Republic, and its leaders becomes a little clearer.

What an intriguing last few minutes…

She had done her best not to show it, but Isaera was still combing through everything she had just learned. Solo’s power, his uncle, the visions, her nightmares. It had all been so much. 

She was thankful most of the ship’s crew had learned to make a path for her wherever she went, otherwise she’d have likely walked into fifteen different officers or random troopers as she paced deeper into her private wing of the destroyer, deep in thought. 

What did it all mean? Did she really feel something for this… Republic soldier-boy? 

Who was she kidding, he was far more than that...

Was Luke Skywalker truly still alive? And just waiting to be found?

She didn’t even realize where she was walking to, until she found herself standing in front of the door to her personal quarters. Further down the hall was her training room, maybe she could work off the mental gymnastics of her last session with Solo more physically. 

Or maybe she should just shut herself away and meditate for a bit, perhaps everything in her head might become clearer.

She could also contact the Supreme Leader. Did he sense her feelings the same way Solo had? Who was she kidding, of course he did. He had never failed to read her like a book, even when they were separated by countless star systems. It was how he had first found her, after all…

Before she could come to a decision, she felt a presence approaching. No one dared venture to her part of the ship unless they needed her for something, and as the officer… goodness, he looked so young… came to a halt a few feet away, standing at attention, she barely turned her head to him.

_ “Yes?” _

The young man cleared his throat, and his voice cracked as he tried to speak.

_ “M-M’Lady, the Supreme Leader requests you make contact…” _

Had he been watching her toy around with her prisoner?

That didn’t matter, in the moment she realized she’d hedge her bets and plead for her master’s  guidance. Despite his proclivity for anger at her admissions of doubt or overwhelming feelings, he would always lead her to where she needed to be.

She took a deep breath.

_ “Thank you Captain…” _

Her voice sounded softer than she really intended, she could have sworn the poor boy lost two inches in height with how much he relaxed at her response, giving a turse nod before sliding away quite hurriedly. 

Isaera stared at the door in front of her for another moment, and then turned, heading further down the empty hallway of her personal wing, and passing her training room. At the end of the hal was a nondescript door, like everything else on the ship. But each room that was meant for her, and her alone, had no outside controls or automatic opening and closing features. They could only be operated with the force. She had designed them herself.

With barely a wave of her fingers at her side, the door opened with a hiss, revealing nothing but a shroud of darkness within. As she entered the chamber, no lights came on, except for small strips along the floor, which bordered her walking path as she moved further and further into the otherwise pitch black room. The door hissed shut just as she came to a stop, dropping to a kneel. Her head bowed downward, and the electronic groan of her words echoed into the pitch black.

_ “Supreme Leader.” _

The silence that followed was deafening, but then the room suddenly lit up as a large hologram filled nearly the entire space, and a massive disfigured head peered back down at the helmeted dark warrior.

_ “Rise, my daughter…” _

Isaera did so, and lifted her head. Even some of the tallest in the galaxy would still need to look up with such a massive face plastered across the rest of the room. 

_ “The information we sought on Jakku is some type of holodrive, it’s something to do with Luke Skywalker.” _

Often enough, her master would regard her in a very studious type of way, not really reacting one way or the other to what she had said, but almost reading her own manner of reaction to it. He spoke to nobody in particular. 

_ “Skywalker… the last of the Jedi…” _

Her head raised.

_ “I thought he was dead.” _

_ “As did I, my young apprentice. I’ve spent years searching for a sign… anything to do with him. If this information we seek is accurate, it appears his physical form is not all he’s able to hide from us.” _

Then the Supreme Leader focused back on her directly, his face coming even closer than it already was.

_ “I have spent much of my life envisioning what we could accomplish through the First Order, my dear… the Republic will NOT tarnish this galaxy the way it did before the Empire…” _

_ “Should we worry about Skywalker?”  _ his apprentice asked hesitantly.

He let out a mild noise, what almost sounded like a laugh.

_ “If he has fled from the force, then I doubt he is of immediate concern…”  _ then her master became serious,  _ “however… his discovery could motivate the Republic into further action against us.” _

At this point she felt it best to pivot to a more solid subject.

_ “The hyperdrive for Starkiller Base will be operational soon, but there is no word from our scouts on the kyber crystals we seek for its primary weapon.” _

A hand waved in and out of the hologram frame.

_ “If the General cannot find what I desire through his pawns, he will no longer be of use to me.”  _ his mangled head cocked to the side,  _ “I trust that you can… relay… my concerns to him.” _

Isaera bowed her head submissively.

_ “Of course, my master.” _

And then, she didn’t quite know what to discuss next. Her mind was still swirling with everything that had happened minutes earlier. He had to have sensed it, she wasn’t even attempting to hide her mind from him. She never could, even if she tried.

For another moment it was silent, and then his voice came out quietly, something remarkably resemblant to a paternal chide.

_ “You have more, my dear?” _

_ “...yes father. Our prisoner is strong with the force.” _

The Supreme Leader let out another chuckle.

_ “I have felt it. And so have you, it seems..." _

She looked up, this time resilient in her own way.

_ “He’s stronger than he thinks.” _

Snoke contemplated this, only staring at her with curiosity for a few seconds.

_ “This boy… his presence within the force is minute, but there is potential…” _

She didn’t realize that she had risen to her feet, and her voice was becoming strained.

_ “He is masking himself, and his potential. I can see into his mind, but there are places that he withholds from even himself. And when I try to enter them...” _

Her master gasped, and looked at her amusingly, as if watching a child discover how the most simplest of things actually worked for the first time. Then he finished her sentence.

_ “...he lashed out at you… and you weren’t expecting him to dig into your own soul so… feverishly” _

Why is she angry? She shouldn’t be angry in front of her master… She stared up at the hologram nearly defiantly. 

_ “He thinks that I fear him.” _

_ “Which of course you-” _

_ “Of course not!”  _ she snapped harshly, before realizing how out of line she sounded and lowering her head respectively. 

It was all her master could do but chuckle again.

_ “You don’t fear him… you fear the connection to him. Your feelings betray you, my young apprentice…” _

She looked up, and now spoke more in tone.

_ “I can feel his anger… it’s boiling within him… like it once did with me…” _

Snoke contemplated her statement, and his hologram distanced itself from her.

_ “You remember your lowest times, before the force became your ally…” _

_ “I remember all of it…”  _ her voice broke when she responded, “ _ was I not like him once?” _

_ “In a way. He shares a piece of your past, but take caution. As the son of Solo, he’ll be fueled by stubborn righteousness. Explore the connection you share, but exercise control in your… personal desires.” _

She stared back up at him silently, the mask hiding the surprise on her face. But he didn’t need to see it to know. The hologram smirked.

_“I found you in your most vulnerable state... molded you from raw, untamed power into a focused, passionate warrior… I understand everything inside of you._ _You think he can give you more…”_

That wasn’t a question. He was stating what she feebly hid in her head. She stayed silent for what seemed like many minutes, but lowered her head and replied in a quieter tone of the electronically garbled voice.

_ “Yes...” _

She had been expecting anger from him, displeasure. But instead he laughed.

_ “Together, you believe the power between you could be… unstoppable.” _

Her helmet barely moved as she shook her head.

_ “I can’t help it…” _

There was a rumble from the hologram that could almost be construed as the ship shuddering around them. But it was just a deeper noise from her father. 

_ “I never intended for a single apprentice to help enact my will on this galaxy… and finding you… it taught me something…” _

She had heard this from him before, and now finished his sentence. Like father, like daughter.

_ “The will of one outweighs the strength of many…” _

_ “Exactly!”  _ he boomed proudly, echoing through the room,  _ “you are not a stagnant force, you evolve, grow to match the challenges you face!”  _

The quiet that followed his exclamations was different than before. She needn’t reply, it wasn’t often he complimented her so graciously. His voice became softer.

_ “Let me see your face, daughter…” _

Slowly, her hands rose and settled around the bottom chin of the helmet. With a hiss, it came free, and she tossed it to the ground with a thud before looking up at him. He must have seen something he liked in her expression, because the hologram contorted into a smile, one of the first she had seen in many weeks.

_ “It seems your mask still serves you purpose, you cannot hide what is written in your eyes.” _

One half of her lips contorted into a sneer, before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Best not to upset father, after all.

_ “I’ve never encountered someone as strong as Solo… it…”  _ her head bowed and her fists clenched against the ground,  _ “I hate how much it distracts me…” _

_ “Even before I took you off that hopeless planet, you yearned for a connection.”  _ her master replied,  _ “your training under me satisfied your hunger… for a time…” _

Flashbacks to her ruthless education at his hand now plagued Isaera’s mind, and she could tell he saw them too, because his mild chuckles matched perfectly to the rewinding of some of her worst fumblings as a young teenager. The supreme leader continued to speak in his milder voice, never missing the chance for a wise lecture.

_ “The force never remains asleep, no matter how much some of us wish it would…”  _ he paused,  _ “and your hunger for further connection, beyond my humble patronage…” _

_ “I am forever grateful for everything you’ve done father,”  _ she cut him off, looking up, and then becoming quiet as a hand entered the frame of the hologram.

_ “That being said… it would be foolish of me to try and suppress the desires within you…”  _ he chuckled, quite playfully,  _ “such mistakes have led to the downfall of my predecessors.” _

Her head cocked.

_ “I don’t understand, my master… you wish for me... to pursue him…?” _

Now he seemed mildly insulted, raising an eyebrow to her.

_ “You wish to turn him to the dark side, do you not?” _

A pregnant pause, then she replied only with a nod, allowing him to continue.

_ “I have no interest in the ancient rules of the Sith, and how they chose to limit their potential with only one master, and one apprentice.”  _ his voice becomes serious again,  _ “your passionate side is one of your greatest weapons, my dear… use it as you must…” _

And then he leaned forward, and now she felt the full weight of his gaze.

_ “....but remember your place in this Order, Lady Revan…” _

She immediately bowed her head.

_ “Yes, Supreme Leader.” _

In an instant, the room became dark, as the massive hologram of her master disappeared. She didn’t immediately stand, taking a seat and falling into meditation. 

It was time to awaken the real Ben Solo.


	8. Workplace Dispute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isaera finds quite an unpleasant surprise on the bridge of her ship...

Hux hated the bridge of her ship. It was always so quiet, even when she wasn’t actually lurking about in the background. It was as if the crew was scared she haunted the walls or something, and didn’t want to dare speaking out of place on accident.

Then again, this wasn’t out of the ordinary for the crew of a First Order ship. But he always felt out of control when the fear in the air wasn’t for him.

On the bright side, the silence gave him enough opportunity to explore his thoughts as he waited on her, gazing through the viewport at the stars beyond. When she did arrive, the distinct sensation of multiple breaths of air being sucked out of the space all at once served enough warning.

Here came the fun. The General turned and only gave a mild smirk in way of greeting.

“My Lady, I’ve received word from Savareen that our hyperdrive is on the verge of completion, we can expect it-”

She walked past him, not seeming to pay any attention to what he was saying, emphasized when she cut him off.

“What about the power source that we seek?”

She was always one to cut straight to the important subject and take control of the conversation. It was something that annoyed Hux, because only her and the supreme leader dared to speak to him in such a way. In a way, he respected her for it, but that respect came coated with a layer of resentment.

He sputtered, and attempted to keep up with the switch in topic.

“W-we s-still haven’t heard from our commanders at Jedha or Lothal-”

She cut him off again, and it was clear this time that she was slightly more agitated than usual.

“The Supreme Leader grows tired of waiting General.”

He continued to sputter about until he found what he wanted to say. It wasn’t his fault the new recruits from the inner rim were so incompetent!

“Our efforts have been greatly hampered by Republic activity around the edges of the Region. Increasing our efforts may pose a greater threat of discovery.”

Her head turned slightly to him, and in the corner of his eye he saw her hand clench and unclench.

“In enough time it won’t matter whether they find us or not, and should we find these crystals, we will no longer need to hide in the shadows.”

“You needn’t remind me of the stakes-” he replied a bit too snidely, as if he’d been edging for the chance. He’d regret this though. She turned her head to him, and he immediately leaned back a bit. She moved forward, backing him up to the edge of the railing-less walkway. She was uncomfortably close now, and the further the back of his foot slid towards the edge of the floor, the more he regretted losing his temper a tad.

“...m-my lord…” he tossed in briskly at an attempt for a respectful recovery.

“Needn’t I?” she cocks her head to one side, “take care in your tone, Armitage, my father is losing his patience with your methods… and with you…”

Hux gulped, before nodding shakily, and she stepped back just enough to allow him to squirm back onto solid footing.

“Where are we with the prisoner?” he asked, quite shakingly.

Despite knowing that this wasn’t really his business, he took mild comfort in the fact that she didn’t again try to force him off the back of the walkway in irritation.

“My prisoner is of no concern to you, right now. Focus on your job, General, and allow me to do mine…”

This was all she said on the manner, turning back to the viewport and stepping further away from him as a sign that their discussion was over. He gulped before coming to attention, as an officer would in excusing themselves.

As he was turning away to find someone that didn’t scare him quite as much, the ship around them lurched, and the sweeping stars out of the viewport slowed until they jolted, and exited hyperspace. Hux hadn’t been told where they were going when his fleet rendezvoused with hers in the last system, though the sight that greeted him was perfectly satisfactory.

They were home.

Before he could stop himself, he stepped up beside her near the most forward viewport window, and now he spoke as if they were old friends.

“Somehow, I never get tired of seeing her from this distance…”

The planet was barely larger than a moon, covered in ice and snow, and dotted with military installations and civilization built by the First Order over the course of many years. Hux had been one of the first children brought to the planet when the Order was founded, his parents being part of the old Imperial guard. His only real memories were on this planet, and it was here he had been bred into the best military leader of his generation.

Whether or not the esteemed mistress of darkness next to him shared, or was even capable of having such nostalgic pleasantries, occupied his mind for but a brief moment. He thought of this occasionally in passing, but when he heard a slight chuckle through her mask, he remembered that this time, his thoughts were anything but private.

“How quaint, General…” she mused, before turning to him, “keep your mind on your mission, or it won’t be my father that you answer to…”

He couldn’t keep the panic from barely flicking across his face as he avoided her gaze and continued to peer at the planet, and gulped slightly.

I apologize, my lady, I didn’t-”

At that moment, there was the sensation that someone else had come up behind the pair of them, and they both turned to find possibly the youngest officer aboard the bridge, clearly scared beyond belief, but with something on his mind nevertheless. After quite a pregnant pause, her mask emitted.

“Yes?”

His lip was trembling, good lord.... As opposed to Hux, who was confident up until she challenged him, this officer seemed to be double guessing every word that came out of his mouth.

“M-m-my lord… the transport you requested is ready.”

She gave Hux a final emotionless nod before turning completely and approaching the lower officer.

“Good, prepare my prisoner, but await my arrival before removing his restraints.”

The poor officer nodded as if relieved he still had his head attached to his body.

“Y-y-y-yes milady, of course”

As he turned to carry out her request, she seemed to follow in his wake. Hux wasn’t sure what to do, but the clearing of her throat from halfway down the walkway clarified her stance perfectly.

“Armitage, get off my ship.”

Her tone was either amused, or cold, perhaps both, and at the moment it didn’t much matter to him which it was.

“Ma’am” he acknowledged curtly before following after her, and sharply diverting down a separate hallway towards the hangers.

Hux really hated her ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another wee chapter, future installments will be sporadic until the release of the Rise of Skywalker, when I will inevitably regain a lot of motivation to plug away the rest!


End file.
